Where Do We Go From Here
by Cat Lunanoff
Summary: Oneshot/arc book. Jack-centric. Contains everything but Guardian OCs and yaoi. Conflicting ships included, most of the chapters are related unless stated. Spur-of-the-moment updates. Full Summary inside (why is this thing so small? I can never fit everything...) R&R, and don't forget to enjoy!
1. Counting Love Is A Star

**Story Summary:**Oneshot/arc book, Jack-centric. Conflicting ships included, most of the chapters are related unless stated.  
I hope you like it and I hope it's different than the rest. Concrit is appreciated with open arms, but no flames. Please ask before taking my original ideas (I don't usually have a problem just ask and give inspiration credit). I have permission to use another oneshot as inspiration, don't freak/accuse me of stealing. Credit will be given where credit is due, and I'll ask if your story inspires me before writing anything if my muse strikes (she has the worst timing, I swear...).  
This is my first oneshot book. No Guardian OCs, no yaoi, but yes OCs (for the Seasons etc). Characters can be OOC by request. From Family-like!Guardians to Human!Rainbow Snowcone.  
Requests being taken, just review/PM.  
R&R!

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**Where Do We Go From Here||Counting Love Is a Star**

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**Chapter Summary:**Human!Rainbow Snowcone, Adult!Guardians, they're all about 21, 22 years old. Jack is anxious about proposing to Tooth; it turns out the Man in the Moon was looking out for him.

**Chapter****Rating:** K, possibly K+ because of vague kissing

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_Disclaimer:__ I do not own RotG or OneRepublic or Frozen. I got the lyrics from azlyrics_com and metrolyrics_com. I've been meaning to do a songfic for a while now, so enjoy! Human,Adult!Rainbow Snowcone,Guardians. Don't like, don't read. My first RS fic, first songfic too, so no flames, just concrit._

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Jack closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to steady his jangling nerves and calm his racing heart. It felt like the organ was working so hard it would fly out of his chest if he didn't do what he came to the park to do, and _soon._

His best friend Aster clapped him on the shoulder and Jack nearly jumped out of his skin. "Just do it now, mate, or you'll never be able to."

Jack scoffed, though that was exactly what he was thinking. "Are you saying I'm a coward?"

"Yes. And next week, I won't be half as willing to help, so do it now before I push you out there."

"I'm going, I'm going! Don't get yer knickers in a twist," the young adult muttered in a lousy imitation of the other, earning him a shove forwards. He stumbled out from his hiding place among the trees and shot a nasty glare back as his wing-man, the one who was supposed to be _helping_ him, not hindering.

"Jack!" his bubbly girlfriend called excitedly upon spotting him.

He froze in place for a second, then beamed nervously and waved as he made his way over to her. "Hey, Thia!" She jogged towards him and he copied her, the two meeting at a park bench. They hugged briefly, and Jack inhaled the smell of her tropical shampoo, hoping fervently this would go smoothly. "Um, I have something to ask you." He glanced over at the tree Aster was hiding behind, knowing he would be listening to every word. "But I want to show you something first." He gently took her hand and guided her down a rarely used path, not quite overgrown since Jack had recently pruned the path apart from the entrance, to keep it hidden, but nice for a walk. He didn't want to pull his girlfriend through a tangle of bushes and branches, after all; it was different than just him pushing through and getting scratched up.

In the light from the sinking sun, the small trail seemed to come alive with a kind of magic, one that made Jack smile quietly and Thia bounce around on her toes, looking on the verge of flight more than ever. "Wow, Jack, this is so, so," she couldn't find a word to describe it.

"Beautiful?" But Jack wasn't looking at the scenery like Thia was. He'd seen it before, and it paled in comparison with the look of complete wonder on her face, which was what he _was_ looking at.

The woman beside him looked over and up slightly to find his eyes on her. She blushed, adding a rosy tint to her coffee-colored skin. "What? Is there something on my face?" She reached up to touch her face, but Jack grabbed both her hands in his before she could.

"No! Not at all. You look great. More than great, actually," he stopped himself before he could keep rambling from nerves. He reluctantly looked away from Thia and in front of them, delight and excitement painting themselves across his face as his eyes lit up. "We're here." He tugged her forward, eliciting a giggle at his childish behavior. He quickly spun her around so he was behind her and covered her violet eyes with his pale hands. "I gotcha, just keep walking." Jack steered her over to a smoothed out tree stump he'd spent hours sanding down so there would be no splinters and instructed her- not unkindly- to sit. He took another deep breath, almost shaking. "Open your eyes." He kept his arms around her as she gasped at the little grove he had brought her to. Jack had buried his face in her hair as he hugged her tightly from behind, afraid of her not liking it.

"Oh, Jack, this is absolutely _beautiful!_ What is this place?" In front of her was a medium-sized waterfall, rushing into a small lake that swirled gently, not too fast but not at all stagnant. There were trees and a few small paper lanterns surrounding the clearing, the setting sun just visible over the tops of the foliage. Fireflies were starting to fly around and Thia caught one in her hands. It was even more enchanting than the trail.

"I used to come here with my sister," Jack mumbled into her neck, making her shiver. "We'd skate in the winter and swim in the summer." He pulled away from Thia and gathered his courage, fingering the small black box in his pocket. "But that's not why I asked you here."

"Jack-?" Thia almost turned at the note of uncertainty in his voice, but then he was in front of her, a guitar in his hands that he'd stashed in the undergrowth earlier. As he started strumming, the battery-operated lights all turned on, illuminating the hollow with a soft yellow glow.

But her greatest surprise came when Jack's lips parted and a soft note, quiet but certainly there, left him as he started singing.

_"Lately I been, I been losing sleep_ _Dreaming about the things that we could be_ _But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard_ _Said no more counting dollars_ _We'll be counting stars_ _Yeah, we'll be counting stars,"_

The sun disappeared over the horizon and the first star became visible as he said the word 'stars'. Jack's voice was so smooth and gorgeous, but she tried to think of the meaning of the words, too.

_"I see this life_ _Like a swinging vine_ _Swing my heart across the line_ _In my face is flashing signs_ _Seek it out and ye shall find_

_Old, but I'm not that old_ _Young, but I'm not that bold_ _And I don't think the world is sold,"_

He didn't sing the next line, cluing Thia in that yes, the words did mean something coming from him. Then, he skipped a part of the (very popular) song! Thia was utterly surprised. Who knew her boyfriend could be so unpredictable?

_"Lately I been, I been losing sleep_ _Dreaming about the things that we could be_ _But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard_ _Said no more counting dollars_ _We'll be counting stars_ _Lately I been, I been losing sleep_ _Dreaming about the things that we could be_ _But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard_ _Said no more counting dollars_ _We'll be, we'll be counting stars_

_I feel the love_ _And I feel it burn_ _Down this river every turn_ _Hope is our four letter word_ _Make that money_ _Watch it burn_

_Old, but I'm not that old_ _Young, but I'm not that bold_ _And I don't think the world is sold,"_

And then the chords morphed into something familiar, a song from a movie they'd watched together a few weeks ago! Jack had adored that movie, Thia recalled fondly.

_"There can be one explanation_

_You_ _And_ _I_ _Were_ _Just_ _Meant To Be_

_Say goodbye_ _Say goodbye_

_To the pain of the past_ _We don't have to feel it any more_ _Love is an open door_ _Love is an open door_ _Life can be so much more_

_With you_ _With you_ _With you_ _With you_ _Love is an open door_

_Can I say something crazy?"_

Jack got down on one knee and opened his eyes, which he'd closed the moment he'd started playing, putting the guitar aside and taking something out of his pocket. His blue eyes collided with her purple ones as he all but whispered the last line, the black box open to expose a sparking diamond ring.

_"Will you marry me?"_

Thia's eyes widened and she gasped, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "_Can I say something even crazier?_" she said in the same tone. "_Yes!_" She launched herself off the seat he'd so carefully made for her and right into his arms, throwing her own around his neck. "Yes yes yes yes yes!"

Jack was stunned and didn't move for a second; he hd momentarily expected her to reject him. Then he melted- almost literally- and picked her up, twirling around in excitement. "I love you so much, Toothiana Marie Rashimi-Haroom, you have no idea."

Thia planted a kiss on his cheek as they stopped spinning. "I think you mean 'Toothiana Marie Rashimi-Haroom _Frost.'" _She smirked a tiny bit as his pallid cheeks went red, but then he smirked right back.

"And _I_ think you missed." At her look of confusion, he set her down and bent his head slightly to accommodate for their height difference. He tapped his cheek and then his lips, the smirk never leaving.

Thia rolled her eyes. "You and your big head are _impossible,_ you know that?" But she kissed him regardless. And when they broke apart, the smirk was a small smile.

"Having a fiancé might have added to that."

"Shut up and kiss me."

And he did, as, unbeknownst to the lovers, the innumerable stars spread out against the boundless navy backdrop of a sky like holes cut into another world, and the Moon smiled down at the couple brightly.

After all, the Man in the Moon knows a good couple when he sees one.

And if he convinced the Sun and Stars to help the prematurely-white-haired man with his performance, well, no one would know.

Everyone knows that the Moon keeps its secrets best.

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**A/N:  
****_Counting Love Is a Star_**** isn't the first thing written under ****_Where Do We Go From Here_****, that was the ****_Creations _****arc I'm writing. Should I write more for this oneshot or leave it? I think I could make it another chapter or two if people want it...**  
**So, whaddya think? oh, btw, that was my first Rainbow Snowcone fic/shot EVER! And my first songfic, if it can be called that. AND this only took me 20-30 minutes to write *sniffles* I'm so proud of myself.  
I think I did pretty good for my first RS.  
But what's ****_important_**** is what you guys think, so R&R! I hope you enjoyed it!  
Also, please leave suggestions! This has family-like!Guardians, human!AUs, Rainbow Snowcone, everything from fatherly!Pitch to Dark!Jack. Just no Blackice, Jackrabbit, Quicksand, Winter Wonderland, etc because I suck at writing boyxboy (not because I don't like the ships, I actually think some are adorable)  
Cat Lunanoff, signing off *mock salute***


	2. Jack the Firefighter

**Where Do We Go From Here||Jack the Firefighter**

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**Chapter Summary:** Jack Frost is a firefighter. Ironic, right? Especially when he dies saving a few little girls from a house fire.  
Because this fandom doesn't have any Firefighter!Guardians and it needs some, and because firefighters are awesome!

**Chapter Rating:** K or K+ for character death

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_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG._

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A bell rang out in the night, loud and obnoxious but welcomed by the listener. He was up and out of bed like he was tasered, shaking off the last claws of sleep and sprinting for the front door, grabbing his keys from a side table. He barely remembered to lock his apartment door behind him, he was in such a hurry, but not without good reason. He tore through the halls like a demon, skidding around corners like a cat on a wet floor; a comical sight if the reason behind his behavior hadn't had been so serious. Well, that, and it was two in the morning.

Jack burst through the front doors of the building- thank god his landlords didn't enforce curfew, then he'd _really_ be screwed- and bolted through the parking lot, not bothering to unlock his blue topless jeep and instead opting for the more direct route; vaulting right into the driver's seat, he jammed the key into the ignition and floored it the second it started up, not even remotely bothered by the frigid air hitting his bare torso (he'd been in a rush, there was no _time_ to get a shirt!) as he practically left tire marks on the asphalt in his wake. One upside to buying the hunk of junk was that while it looked like crap (until his _totally_ sweet custom snowflake-design paint job) it also had an engine that could hit over 150mi/h at top speed, nearest he could figure. The speedometer refused to show his speed when he went faster than 20mi/h, which was lame. Although the air rushing by made him feel like he was flying, he focused on getting to the firehouse ASAP. The guys only called him when it was severe, they knew he had college in the morning, so this had to be _bad._

The jeep, Wind, as Jack affectionately called it for its speed, screeched to a halt in the lot, the rapid acceleration and deceleration enough to make a normal person sick (but not Jack), and he leapt out, bare feet slapping the pavement until he got to the doors. He ran to his locker and yanked the suit from its hook, stuffing himself into it as quickly as he could manage. Someone grabbed the neck of his top and hoisted it up for him. "Thanks Sandy," Jack answered without looking, knowing only the mute young man, just a little older than Jack, would bother to help him.

The teen grimaced for a second as he pulled on the trousers and made a mental note to wear pants to bed too instead of just boxers. He had just ran/driven halfway across town in his blue and white snowflake underwear, and _only_ his underwear. He finished fastening his top and stuffed a pair of gloves on his ghostly hands, his heated ears fading back to their eerily pale tone. Once his boots were on, he grabbed his helmet and mask and ran to the "Sleigh", as Chief Nicholas North called the fire truck, and he hopped onto the back, holding on tightly as he ensured his gear was on correctly. Sandy was right beside him and the two youngest firefighters exchanged grim smiles. Yes, it was nice to see each other again, but the circumstances were less than ideal. If Jack was there, the fire was in a family home that most likely had children, which was worrisome to the both.

There was already a fire truck at the house when they got there; the call was at a large two-story-plus-attic gig that made Jack's two-room apartment look like a closet. If it wasn't on fire, it would've been awesome. Water was being sprayed at the bottom floor, but the fire was already getting out of control. Jack hopped off the red fire engine before it fully stopped (something he'd been told not to do but did anyway) and ran to the edge of the property, surveying the damage. A young woman with burnt hair was straining against a few of his coworkers, screaming hysterically as they physically held her back from the fire. Jack carefully approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Who's in there?" His tone was urgent, deep and calming but hiding a deep sea of worry. The lady wouldn't be screaming and fighting if she'd been home alone, and Jack would still be sleeping.

She looked up at him with relief, tear tracks running down her coffee-colored cheeks."My- my little sisters, Tati, Tunhi, and Tali. They would be in the attic. It's a playroom." She stumbled over her words in her rush to get them out but Jack understood perfectly.

He nodded. "Stay here ma'am, we can't have you getting hurt. I'll go get them, I promise." He drew a hasty 'x' over his heart, smoke mask covering his lower face and his hat pulled over his eyes. He ran at the burning building and scaled a drainpipe, clambering up as skillfully as a monkey. "I'm going in!" he barked at anyone who could hear him through the radio in his helmet. No one in the two squadrons noticed the nineteen-year-old enter the attic window, not even the ever-silent Sandy, who had heard but hadn't fully absorbed the meaning of the teen's words yet.

"Girls!" Jack yelled once he got the window open and was inside. "Lay flat on the floor, okay? And yell if it gets hot! I'll come to you!" He thumped over to a blanket in the far corner with three quivering lumps under it and yelps emerging. "Tati, Tunhi, Tali, I'm almost there!" He was terrifyingly aware of the flames creeping up the wall nearest the kids and beginning to reach the ceiling. Jack picked one up, the largest, and put her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, then did the same with the second-largest. He scooped the third into his arms bridal-style and fixed his mask over her tiny face, feeling the others hide their faces in his uniform. Flames licked at his heels as he raced back to the window. "Sandy, now!" he screamed.

The smaller man was ready, having expected Jack to need him for this part, and maneuvered himself closer to the window from his position on the ladder. Jack handed over the first two girls as he felt something heavy come down on his right leg and bit his lip. His suit was starting to heat up dangerously. "Now you," he told the third girl softly, deciding she was Tati. "Go to Sandy, Tati, he's got you."

The little girl refused to budge, wrapping her thin arms around his neck tighter until he had to pry her off. The tallest of the three, whom he'd deduced to be Tali, was already halfway down the ladder, Tunhi ready to follow. Jack shifted Tati to Sandy and the mute began his descent, sure Jack was capable of getting himself out.

Unfortunately for Jack, the fire was literally _on his back_ and the teen leaned out the window desperately as another heavy piece of burning wreckage hit his leg in the same spot as the first. With a gasp, he hurled himself out of the house entirely, his gloved fingertips _just_ brushing the metal of the ladder before the frame shut on his legs and sent a searing, throbbing, agonizing sensation through his body. Jack gritted his teeth to stifle a scream that came out as more of a yell as he fell out of the third-floor window.

_I have an exam tomorrow, _he realized with a jolt_. The triple T's are safe_, he thought woozily. Then, _I never got to drink legally. _His final thought, however, was much more definite than the others.

_Being a firefighter was the best decision I ever made._

The last thing he could remember before everything was swallowed by the black and red spots was the sensation of falling from a great height.

And the pain.

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**A/N:**  
**Ohmigod sorry! I didn't mean to make him die! I just got the idea for a firefighter!AU yesterday before I went to bed and it took me maybe an hour to write because FF was glitching and I had to rewrite this three times until I was sick of it and needed to take a break.  
I might make this into an actual fic by itself (not just an arc; I have _ideas_ for this fic). I was inspired to- WAIT SPOILERS I HAVENT WRITTEN THAT PART YET! but there is this awesome story _Ice Prince_ by TheAliway and it kinda gave me the tiniest bit of an idea (its really good and I have no idea how to do this Rainbow Snowcone thing since I only recently started shipping the Human!version.) Go read it if you haven't already, it's really good.  
Also, I don't steal, so if I say I "took inspiration" from a story I _literally_ mean I read the story and it got the gears turning in the story section of my brain and it made me think and my thoughts turned out to be waaay different than the story and they were their own thing so I decided to write my own ideas/theories down in an AU I'd been thinking of but hadn't had a storyline to use in it yet and BAM there's my fic.**

**Cat Lunanoff, signing off for now. R&R, 'specially if you want a different ending! I know I do! *mock salute***


	3. Responsibility pt1

**Where Do We Go From Here||Responsibility and Fun Don't Always Mix**

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**Chapter Summary: **Jack _is_ responsible... to a degree. But when North doesn't believe him, and forces him to do his job the way the Big Man wants it to be done, Bad Things happen, the same kind of Bad Things that usually happen around Jack when he feels strong emotions, sometimes from his power, sometimes Wind-North, and even Mother Nature on occasion. Once in a rare while, it's all three. Can the Workshop sustain such damage and still remain standing?

**Chapter Rating:** T because Jack gets a little... _upset..._ and he _is_ a teenager, you know, just a childlike-at-heart one. He is still reasonably knowledgeable about teenager-y stuff like modern cuss words, which he uses in this (d*mn used a few times, f* word used once).

**Note:** North thinks of Jack as a winter spirit. Jack is the Spirit of Winter. There is a distinction between those two, and between those and sprites, in my head. It is important and is _not_ accidental. Everything I write (excluding typos) is written that way for a reason (ex: random capital letters. They are supposed to be like that).

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_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG, now stfu and stop making me cry *curses through sobs*_

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"Okay. Route planning. First can be Canada, they've been due for a storm for a little while now, I haven't been there personally in a few days. Then I'll go southeast to the East Coast, New York hasn't gotten a major snowstorm since before Hurricane Sandy, that's actually a really bad name for it especially since Sandy's not a destructive force of nature like me, oh, whoops, off topic again! Well, the Big Apple is definitely getting some snow... Okay, more than some, make that a blizzard's-worth..." Jack trailed off, mumbling and counting on his fingers as he sat in front of one of those maps they use in schools, but North-sized, so it was massive.

North had plopped the kid down at a desk in front of the map and hadn't allowed him to move from the seat. Jack glanced down at his chair. It was understandable, really, he probably would have been out the window the moment North left the room.

The shackle was _total_ overkill though.

The chair was too heavy for his toothpick frame to lift and with his ankle chained to it, he could only swing one foot at almost the speed of light to release the nervous energy that built up the more he stayed still. Usually, he'd have a much smaller map held out in front of him as he flew across Russia or Canada, bringing snowfall with him, even though he didn't need to look at the paper anymore; he memorized countries as quickly as they came to power and tucked them and all their facts safely away in the back of his head once they deteriorated, forgotten by all but his subconscious. He just liked the feel of having a purpose, of having a set destination in mind for once, so he planned his route vaguely with plenty of wiggle-room. Sometimes, that was nice. Other times though, it was the most freaking annoying thing in the history of Ever.

Jack groaned as another maniac trail of slurred weather-speech fell from his lips without his consent, bringing his head down on the desk and yelling in pain when he used enough force to bruise. "Ow," he moaned, sitting up and putting a hand to his forehead as an instant icepack, even though the word 'icepack' had no meaning to him, since he was the same frozen temperature as one. "Okay, the sooner I get done planning, the sooner I can get out of this hell-hole!" He took another look at the map and yelled in frustration again, gripping his hair tightly in his fists and pulling, making grotesque faces simultaneously. "GOD DAMMIT! Did it _have_ to be _every_ goddamn city and town? Even _I_ don't know that!" Which was why he used a map of countries and states, so he could stake out general areas and let the dumb weathermen do the rest. It wasn't as if he'd give one town six feet of snow and leave another barely a mile over with barely a dusting! He was more responsible than that!

Jack paused mid-internal-rant. _Wait, I'm responsible?_

There was the sound of glass breaking and the thousands of sickening colored thumbtacks that had been the cause of the damage sailed out of the hole accompanied by glass shards, and an ear-splitting scream of horror and shock rang through the barren tundra that was the North Pole. _"I'M BEING RESPONSIBLE!"_

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North winced at the scream and turned the volume of his Russian classical music up, tuning the winter spirit's fury out in favor of carving a toy prototype out of ice. He hummed off-key to the music to drown out the boy's exclamations of frustration.

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Jack growled again as he stared at the map with menace, utter loathing in his eyes. "I-" he grabbed a corner and ripped a wide strip out of it diagonally. "Fucking-" He threw all the thumbtacks on the floor in his rage, leaving the map satisfactorily barren. "HATE-" He tore the paper into tiny pieces furiously, like a possessed paper-shredder. _"MAPS!"_ Wind-North grabbed at the map remnants and threw them out the window; unfortunately for Jack's feet, the thumbtacks were left behind. He strode on top of them like a madman, dragging the heavy metal chair behind him as he paced, leaving horrible gouges in the beautiful wooden floors and making both yeti and elves alike cringe from the sound. A few thumbtacks were left imbedded into his heels and arches, most of them in the foreign colors 'red' and 'green' that were indistinguishable to the boy. Jack frosted over the windows in anger and sat on the horrible wicked _evil_ chair to remove the pins, the surface chilling to subzero temperatures, colder than dry ice to anyone but the Spirit of Winter. Even winter spirits and sprites wouldn't be able to touch it without getting immediate frostbite leading to incurable gangrene on contact.

Note: don't piss off Jack Frost unless you A) are Mother Nature or someone he cares for deeply or can't survive without like the Spirit of Summer, or B) have a death wish.

It seemed North had a death wish.

Wind tried to lift him as she had done previously, but he cried out again when the chair dangled from his ankle. Something would break if he tried to fly away with it attached, and he didn't have his lockpick wires with him. He had retired them when he'd become a Guardian, in the hopes that he wouldn't need them anymore.

Jack decided that was a very stupid idea and he was never taking them off his person ever again. Heck, he would keep bobby pins in his hair if it was absolutely necessary-!

Wait! He was at the Bennett house earlier today, and Sophie had made him play dress up for a tea party. (He could have said no, but only some kind of heartless monster could say no to that face, _especially_ when she pulled the puppy-eyes.) The little girl had absolutely _insisted_ on doing his hair to go with the costume he was forced into, and she had tried and failed to braid his short hair, eventually just jamming every bobby pin she had available into the mess, all aimed directly at his scalp (at least, that's how it felt). Jamie had snickered until Sophie dragged him into it too. It was so humiliating, and his only consolation was that at least the Guardians hadn't seen him 'all dolled up'.

But the _point_ was that Sohie had tried to take out all the doodads, but Jack had been dragged off before she had declared it done. Maybe there was a clip in there still. Jack reached his arms up and started scavenging for something, anything that could help him. It wasn't the most dignified thing he'd ever done, but all dignity was forgotten when he boiled everything down and his wild side took over.

_I need to get Out. Wind is Out, I don't want her In too. Wind stay Out. Out, I need to get Out, I can't be stuck Here. Let me Out. _

_Mother, please help me._

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Seraphina shuddered. "Not now, Jack, I don't have time for this. I can't do all your work for you." The shivers didn't go away and Mother Nature's frown intensified, cocking her head to the side to better grasp at the unpleasant sensation within her. It was cold, freezing cold, and there was enormous pressure behind it, as if Jack Frost was suppressing his power.

Further exploration revealed that it wasn't Jack holding his power back, it was something else holding him back, or making him hold it back. Why, she didn't know, but _something was wrong with her baby and he asked her for help, and god damn her if she didn't go to him at once._

Mother Nature's usual green dress shimmered, changed to blue, and then was covered by an ice breastplate and greaves for her arms and legs. Her breath fogged up the air and her eyes flashed to glowing blue, her long black hair turning white at the roots and spreading down like a disease. Her bronze skin lost all its rich color and went ghastly white. In seconds, she was ready for battle and suited to helping her little _ребенок_.

Because no one, and I mean _no one,_ messes with one of Nature's own and gets away unscathed.

Or alive.

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**Definitions**  
**Russian: ребенок(_rebenok_)-** **baby**

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**A/N:  
Hi there! I hope you like this. There _will_ be another part!  
I've been trying to leave little clues about other arcs in each one, so have fun connecting the next few!  
This is at least the 4th or 5th arc/twoshot I have planned so far, but I don't want to publish the others until I finish them completely, for plot's sake.  
Aaaand my killer headache is becoming worse by the second, only music and working on arcs is distracting me from the throbbing.  
This is CL, signing off! *mock salute* *poofs away***


	4. Creations pt1

**Where Do We Go From Here||Frost Wolves**

**Chapter Summary:** Jack works on a new power of his...

**Chapter** **Rating:** K, it's pretty kid-friendly

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_Disclaimer: I don't own RotG, and I got the idea for this from reading **Building Up** by **Spere  
**__I hope it lives up to my vision..._

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Jack Frost concentrated. Hard. Harder than he'd ever concentrated before, actually. The winter spirit wasn't used to focusing this hard; all his powers normally flowed through him like water from a tap, all he had to do was twist the knob and BAM ice. Or frost. Or snow. Sometimes even pure magick, which was what he diffused and put into his breath (it was part of the reason he smelled like peppermint and the color blue- yes, that's a smell, don't ask how, it just is-, though Tooth thought it was from toothpaste. Don't tell her he's never brushed his teeth in his life, as a spirit or a human; she'll strap him down and do it herself).

But this, _this_ was probably the most difficult thing he'd ever set his mind to doing, besides gaining believers.

He held his hands out in front of his ice sculpture again, on either side of its head but not touching it as he kneeled on the ground before it. His hands tensed to the point where the tendons in the backs were standing out and the digits were rigid, his whole frame trembling as he stiffened, his eyes wide open and glassy. When nothing happened after a whole minute of staring into the sculpture's eyes, the boy's body went lax and he slumped over dejectedly. "I'll never get it!" he moaned, bringing his hands to his snowy hair and pulling. "This is _impossible!"_ He threw himself backwards and lay spread-eagled in the powder, not even attempting to make a snow angel or play or _anything_. This was not like him.

But it was not in Jack Frost's nature to be despondent for long. He _was_ the Guardian of Fun, after all. Fun was infused into his core, into the magicks that made up his very being. He thought a bit and corrected himself. "_Almost_ impossible. Remember, _nothing_ is impossible..." Jack trailed off. _"If you believe."_

Jack scooted back in front of the statue and put his hands into place once more. He squeezed his eyes shut and he shook with excitement and magic. If anyone had been around to see, he would have been literally _glowing,_ a blue so bright it was almost impossible to look at. _"I believe, I believe, I believe,"_ he chanted under his breath, his voice full of an expectation he desperately tried to stifle, not wanting to be set up for failure; but his hope was a powerful force to be reckoned with, enough to make E. Aster Bunnymund start in surprise from the deep innocence of the emotion and wonder who exactly had such a pure dream.

Jack tentatively opened his eyes one at a time, almost scared of what he would see, and when he did, it all came crashing down around him. The ice hadn't moved, not a single centimeter, and it was as unresponsive as before. _At least it didn't explode this time_, he thought bitterly.

Aster doubled over in utter shock as that bright hope was yanked away in a flash, making him feel as if he was on North's sleigh in the middle of a spectacular set of loop-de-loops.

The child-Guardian, only a few years older than those he protected, buried his face in his hands and did something he hadn't done in a long time.

He sat back on his heels in the Antarctic dessert, and he cried.

Until a freezing, wet _something_ was dragged across his cheek. It was a bit sandpapery, and as cold as Jack himself, but somehow still wet. He looked up, his hope resurrected but still fragile and nervous, far too young to die. He was greeted with the sight of twin glowing circles, an icy blue that matched his own but glowed with a light the same color as his hands had. Jack's eyes lit up and his tears froze immediately only to be licked off by his creation. He let out a breathless laugh and stared at his pet, gently laying his hands on it and beaming when it's tail wagged and it lunged at him. He didn't worry for a second; it was _his._ He had brought it into this world, and he could take it out if he had to, as much as it pained him to think it. He fell backwards with another laugh, more solid this time, the ice animal on top of him and licking his face like crazy. "Whoa, boy, calm down!" Another chuckle as its tongue dragged his face in a weird direction, effectively squishing his right eye closed. "I'm excited too. Let me up, okay?" The creature complied and hopped off its master. "Wow." Jack took in the appearance of his not-so-little frost creation with a grin.

It was made of ice, but the fur and tail and limbs still moved fluidly, blowing in the wind and responding properly; at least, he _assumed_ they was responding properly, he wasn't the animal and had no way of knowing if it had a mind of its own or was responding to Jack's wishes, but at the most basic level their motor skills seemed to be functioning correctly. It growled playfully at him and bit at the end of his pants, further tattering them. Jack reprimanded it, though he was joking. "Hey! I need those! Stop that!" It continued to tug until Jack nudged it back a bit with his staff.

It exploded into snowflakes and the crooked smile previously resting on the adolescent's face faded as the white powder-like substance blended back in with all the other crystals blanketing the ground.

"What? No, I didn't mean to... please come back, we can still play together..." Jack's voice wavered uncertainly and his eyes brimmed with disappointed tears that he refused to let fall. His lower lip wobbled but he stiffened his jaw resolutely. "No. No more tears. I did it before, I can do it again."

He crouched on the ground again, making yet another ice statue. Hopefully number forty nine wouldn't implode and send up a mushroom cloud of snow like thirty seven had...

* * *

**A/N:**  
**I know this is vague, but I was going to reveal what the animal was in the next chapter. You can probably guess what it is, because the title chapter, and the original reveal wasn't half as cool as I planned -.-  
that, in the a/n, is kinda what happens when I just woke up and haven't moved, just pulled my laptop onto my bed.  
well, you don't care about me, so more story news!  
this is a separate arc from "Responsibility", but it's the same 'verse. I am trying to leave ties throughout other arcs, like mentioning his irresponsibility and other things. "Responsibility" had a huge giveaway to ANOTHER arc, "For the Love of Sight". it goes with a headcanon I have, as does the next part of this (which will be called "Sand Wolves").  
Anywho, CL, signing off! *face-plants while mock-saluting***


	5. Winter Prince pt1

**Where Do We Go From Here||An Invitation Leads to Home**

**Chapter** **Summary:** An invitation arrives at a Guardian meeting and Jack gets dragged home. Part 1 of the _**Winter Prince** _arc. Contains whatever parts of the book-canon I know and feel like using.

**Chapter Rating:** K+? just because it's the average rating and every chapter tends to have a minor cuss in it.

* * *

_Disclaimer: You guys know I don't own RotG, but did you know I don't own Winter Prince? It's the work of **the-guardian-of-fun** on tumblr, who is the first one to come up with the idea. If you trace it back, it all stems from them. I just used the image as inspiration, Google "Winter Prince Jack Frost" and look for one on him lounging on a throne, or that style, or search for them on tumblr. There's a slashpairing between him and Jokul too, but that's just headcanon or something. WORD VOMIT.  
And I don't own any of the songs I used in part.  
_

* * *

Jack tipped his chair back on two legs. "Noooorth," he whined. "Is the meeting over yet?"

North, sitting tall and proper with his hands on the table in front of him, looked at the boy disapprovingly. "No, Jack, we still have things to discuss." He went back to his conversation with Aster.

Jack groaned dramatically and let his chair go back down on four legs with an obnoxious _thud._ He folded his arms behind his head and propped his feet up on the table, shifting often and basically just trying to get the meeting to stop or someone to pay attention to him. "_La-da-dee-da, da-dee-da-da-dum-da-dee-dum-da-dee-dum_," he sang, loud and off-key, not even sure of what song it was or what the rest of the words were but absolutely _positive_ that was how the first line went. "_La-da-dee-da, da-dee-da-da-dum-da-dee-dum-da-dee-dum_." Then he transitioned into another random song a few kids had been singing as they exited a movie theater. "_And I can't, wait to see, what my buddies all think of me, just imagine how much cooler I'll be, in summer!"_ His voice crescendo-ed, making elves cover their large ears and cringe, distinctly remembering there was more but he swapped songs again, quickly bored as he leaned his chair back again. "_I used to roll the dice, feel the fear in my enemy's eyes, listen as the crowd would sing, now the old king is dead, long live the king. One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me, and I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand."_ He loved Coldplay, especially that song, but he forgot the remaining words and moved on. "_I'm feelin' like I keep on talking, I'm repeating, myself my words lost all meaning I keep talking I repeat myse-e-e-e-elf_." That was the only Downtown Fiction song he liked, it was the only good one. Fall Out Boy scrolled through his head. "_Are all the good times getting gone? They come and go and go and come and go, oh yeah I've got a lot of friends who are stars, but some are just black holes_," He decided to finish with some All Time Low. He knew Aster hated it, so he belted it out at the top of his lung in his cracking voice, bothered that no one had reacted to his singing yet. "_Long live, the reckless and the brave, I don't think I wanna be saved, my song has not been sung, so long live us!"_

"Your song has been sung, now _shut up!"_ Aster roared, standing and planting his forepaws on the table. Jack jumped and fell out of his seat, chair falling backwards with a _bang._

"Whoa there, kangaroo," Jack chuckled through a wince as he felt along the back of his head for a bump. "I didn't realize my singing was _that_ bad."

"Ooh, what's that?" Tooth exclaimed, breaking away from her fairies. Sandy looked angry, as if he had been trying to get everyone's attention for the past few minutes.

There were five floating, regal-looking letters hovering just inside the window left open for the three flying Guardians. Once they were noticed, they each zoomed over to their respective Guardian, bobbing about their heads. Jack's was especially aggressive, jamming the stiff cardstock corners into his temples and soft spots on his face, scarily close to his eyes. "Ow! Quit that! Stop it, seriously, what's your problem?" It smacked his face like a backhanded-slap and unfolded itself in front of him. It was in a foreign language, but the strange snowflake-shaped symbols rearranged themselves, floating off the page until he could read it, oddly enough. When he did finish reading it, however, he was both scared and angry. "Oh, to hell with that! Ouch, get off me! Knock it off, you glorified paper airplane!" The letter grew angry and gave him a papercut across the nose that quickly frosted over. "Fine, but I'm not happy about it."

The letter folded itself again and flew out the window with Jack in tow. It wasn't his wind tugging him along but someone else's who had made it cold to accommodate for his needs. "Sorry guys!" Jack yelled back, not sounding very sorry at all. "I have to go!"

"Oi! Get back here!" Aster made a grab for the kid's ankle and missed. "You're a Guardian, you can't go flying off whenever you want!"

"I'll see you at the party!" he called, his voice getting quieter and quieter the farther he got.

Aster turned away and read his letter again. "Blasted irresponsible Frostbite. He'd _better_ be there for the semi-centennial Spirit Ball and the Coronation of a Royal Spirit."

* * *

"Mother! Can you stop sending me the vindictive letters for once and just give me a _normal_ one next time? This one gave me a papercut!" The frustrated teen made a furious snatch for the annoying letter but it flew out of the way and landed on the shoulder of a pretty woman who couldn't be much older than Jack and had her back to him as she knelt on the soft dirt, pushing seeds in one-by-one and gently nudging the soil back over them, lining them up in neat, straight rows. They were in a lovely garden, beautiful to look at and the scents were heavenly. Some had mistaken it for Eden, but it was far from it; the two were just standing in the Spring Quarter. Jack was sweating from the gentle sunlight and warm breezes. "And can we take this to Winter Quadrant?"

The woman stood, dusting off her hands and green dress. "Of course, Jackson." Her voice was low for a woman's and very soft, sounding like the sounds of nature had melded with her vocal cords. "Walk with me."

He let his feet touch the ground and padded along the ground with her, their feet making little-to-no sound. The barefoot woman turned to look at him, her hand reaching out to ease into his chilly palm and curl her fingers around his. He smiled peacefully at her, thinking she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And it was true. She had long black hair, not straight but not curly, and not quite wavy either. It was messy now, braided intricately and pinned up in a way that would have made others look crazy but just added to her whimsical charm, the laurel wreath woven in making her look sprite-like (though if you said that to her face she would strangle you with poison ivy and rose vines). Her eyes were a forest green that could change at any time depending on her mood, and her dress was green leaves sewn together that flattered her petite figure. She was shorter than the teen but commanded attention when she entered a room, unlike him. But Jack didn't care about that, it would have been weird. He just thought she was pretty, and impulsively leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Love you, Mother."

She didn't acknowledge it except for a smile to match his. "Love you too, Jackson." Her Winter-Child was still young enough to want to stay around her and hold hands but didn't follow her like a lost puppy anymore, unlike his older siblings who went out into the world and scorned them for being so childlike. The youngest physically but only a few centuries older than Jack, forever-six Lily Fleur was Jack's sister who clung to him tightly whenever he was around.

"Mama!" a little-girl voice called, ringing through the garden. "Is Jack-Jack here yet?"

Jack allowed himself a grin and answered. "Is that my little Blossom I hear?"

The voice squealed and footsteps pattered on the dirt, finally accompanied by a burst of wind that propelled a young girl straight into Jack's arms. Mother Nature dropped his hand and watched her youngest children interact, her heart swelling with pride.

"Jackie!"

"Blossom!" Jack imitated playfully, rubbing his nose against hers. "I missed you! Why don't you come see me?"

"Mama said you were busy with Guardian stuff!"

"That's no excuse not to visit," he winked and settled her onto his hip, watching her nose frost over from the contact with his. It quickly melted into her skin and she giggled.

"Cold!"

"_I'm_ cold, Blossom." He stroked her hair softly as they continued to follow to the Winter Quadrant.

"No you're not, Jackie! You have a warm heart!" Lily laid her head against his chest. "I can feel it! It's still colder then mine or June's, but it's warmer than it was last time!"

Jack's steps faltered but he kept the smile on his face. "Is that so?" They entered the Summer Quadrant, having to follow the path of the seasons to get to each Q. Summer and Winter were Quadrants, Autumn and Spring were Quarters. "You got your charm bracelet?"

His older-yet-younger sister shook her wrist, making the charms jingle. "Yep! Hey, do you think Santa will bring me a present this year since you're friends now?"

Jack's heart almost stopped. "Of course he will." His hand patted her back while the other clenched. "You know, if you ever want to see me, just start spring early in Burgess. You could interrupt in the middle of a Guardian meeting and I would come play with you. I will _always_ make time for you, Blossom."

Mother took Lily out of Jack's arms, mindful of the little pink rose-petal dress her daughter wore. "If anyone gives you a hard time, or even mildly upsets you, come get me okay? At the party and any other time. You won't be a tattle-tale," she said, seeing the question in Lily's eyes and answering it. _"Especially_ if it's June or Vuli."

Vuli Chenji was the eldest of the four siblings, a Swahili man in his early twenties. He was the least pleasant and most nasty of the four, always picking on Jack because he was Winter and destroyed Autumn and Lily because she was so small and sweet and didn't know how to defend herself. June Summers was the second-oldest and by far the most aggressive. The teen was somewhere in the fifteen to nineteen age group and fought with everyone, but she protected Lily fiercely, and if anyone other than her or Vuli bothered her little siblings she would personally find them and beat them into submission. The two distanced themselves from the others, partially because they were almost millennia old and were independent, partially because they didn't want to bother their family members more than jokingly, as had happened the last time they had all stayed together as a family. There was a fragile family-dynamic between the five, one no one wanted to break for fear of damaging it beyond repair. It was further strained by Jack having a Father, and one who laid claim to him only recently too, Man in Moon, instead of just Mother like the other three children who had no paternal figure. Mother had a father, but she had avoided him like the plague for a long time now. Unfortunately, she would have to invite him to the ball, which she was _not_ going to enjoy.

The two youngsters weren't sure if she was talking to Jack or Lily, so Lily replied for the both of them. "Okay, Mama." She wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her tightly.

Jack was a little shaken up. Mother had never offered him protection before, insisting he fight his own battles, but it felt nice to have that luxury even if he would probably never use it. That was why he had spent the last 300 years alone. He didn't want to get pushed away, nor did he want to get others hurt, so he isolated himself. Mother had told him she cared for him, but he was old enough to fend for himself and she didn't want to smother him, and so had only checked in on him every decade, like clockwork.

They had really only grown close the past ten years or so, increasing the frequency of their visits to every other Sunday after the battle with Pitch. Jack got close to Lily and even wormed his way into June's heart a little. Mother enjoyed spending time with her kids and felt like a mother, something she had never thought she could have, and she enjoyed it immensely.

Once they crossed over into Autumn Quarter, Lily drew a cloak of violets around her small frame and walked on her own. She didn't react well with Autumn, being so similar yet different than Spring, and needed double-strength charms. She was rather cold-blooded, adapting to her surroundings slightly, but always had trouble going through Autumn, too used to transitioning into Summer rather than Winter. Jack held her hand and he made the area very cold, speeding up Autumn and making Winter come faster. His Blossom was used to the cold, having to come in during the worst to warm it up (and she was always hanging around Jack), and she felt more at home in it than that awkward position between Hot and Cold (which was _much_ different than Cold and Hot).

"What did you want me to come for right now, Mother?" Jack tilted his head to the side slightly. "I would've been by next week."

Mother continued walking, not bothered by the cold, headed towards the middle of the Circle of Seasons where her palace was located. "Follow, Jackson. Everyone is coming."

_"Please_ tell me this isn't another one of those disasters you call a 'family dinner'?" Jack's face was schooled into an expression of mock-horror. Lily giggled and tried to copy him.

"No," Mother said, rolling her eyes at her son's antics. "Although we will likely have many of these 'disasters' during your stay."

"During my stay? Exactly how long are you planning on keeping me here?"

"Until the Spirit Ball," was her prim answer. The laurel wreath on her head slowly turned golden and her green dress fell away leaf-by-leaf (Jack averted his eyes, though he didn't need to; but it's not like he knew that) to show a golden dress in a similar style. Strips of gold laced their way up her calves like ballet ribbons and flowed upwards to circle her biceps in deceptively delicate-looking bands. Her feet were still bare, and that was when Jack noticed the same had happened to Lily, her violet cape turning brass along with her clothes. The rose flower crown in her pale blond hair turned to flexible brass and she got the same arm-and-leg ribbons as Mother.

Jack looked down at himself to see his clothes weren't even the same style anymore, let alone the same color. He was in a platinum v-neck t-shirt and silver jeans, the grooves in his staff filled with liquid metal that frosted but didn't harden. His feet were still bare, thankfully, and he had platinum armbands. He groaned at the wardrobe change as they walked up the Winter Entrance steps, Lily and Mother almost gliding regally but Jack tripping over himself as he studied his new outfit.

"Um, Mother? What's with the precious-metal clothing?"

"It's what happens this time of the century-"

"Wait, so this is the spirit version of the whole time-of-the-month thing?"

"-I just wish I had encouraged you to come to the semi-centennial parties more," Mother finished without missing a beat. "And I wish I had gotten a chance to educate you like your siblings. There are so many things I wish I could have changed."

"Nah, it's fine." Jack put a hand on Mother Nature's shoulder. "Look at me now! I still come visit every other week, and nobody even bats an eye! What if you had raised me like Vuli and June and I didn't come back anymore? You would be alone with my little Blossom."

"It did work out nicely in the end, didn't it." Mother was still not satisfied though and expressed this as they made their way through the ice-halls to the earth-halls, getting closer and closer to the heart of her palace, a giant tree. "But I could have saved you all that sorrow, all that confusion and anguish. I could have protected you. I should have seen through your façade during my visits, but I blinded myself to your pain and suffering, tricking myself into believing you were fine because I could not stand to have failed one of my children."

"It's fine, Mother. Really." He grasped her hand, eliciting a smile from her, and he kissed her cheek again. "I love you unconditionally. It's what children do for their parents."

Lily skipped ahead. "I'll let the others know Jack-Jack is here!" She shed her brass cloak and it flew back to hang on a random peg on the wall.

Mother Nature engulfed Jack in a hug, and he stooped a little (he was taller than her), allowing her to sway them back and forth soothingly. She grasped the sides of his head and pulled him down so their foreheads and noses were touching. "Jack, you know I love you, right?" She used his nickname, the one he always asked her to call him by.

He smiled, blue eyes locked onto green-turned-blue ones. "Of course. I love you too, Mom."

Mother Nature beamed at the word 'Mom' and pulled his head down lower, planting a kiss on his forehead and resting her thumbs on either side of the spot. "Then, Jack Frost, will you become a Prince of Nature and the Head of Winter?"

"I will."

Mother's blue eyes glowed slightly as Jack's did likewise, and her thumbs followed suit. "I, Seraphina, Mother Nature, proclaim Jack Frost as the Winter Prince and King of Frost." Yes, the wording was different, but in her court she insinuated him as both. She and he knew his title, there was no need for specifics (that and she was making it up as she went along, trying to seem formal). With her thumbs she traced a glowing blue design down the sides of his face starting at the center of his forehead, in his trademark frost pattern with her own personal tweaks. There were great swirling curls and loops, beautiful marks framing his features. When she pulled away from his face, she placed her hands on his shoulders and straightened him to his full height. He looked quite regal with the marks of royalty decorating his face, and as he grew into his role and accepted it they would grow and extend on their own, but they faded into his pale skin for now. "Jack, my son, let us eat." The young woman's voice was stiff and fussy, making both of the immature Spirits want to burst out laughing, but Jack played along, responding in the same way.

"Yes, lets."

* * *

**Note:** Mother Nature and Jack are _not_ involved romantically, it's just the way the two touch-deprived Spirits interact, cherishing every second of positive physical contact they get with someone else. They are feared and hated and isolated apart from all but a few, so to have someone else who loves you and comes to see you as often as possible, it seems too good to be true, and they confirm it isn't a dream by holding hands among other _chaste_ signs of affection. It is NOT an intimate relationship. She is _literally_ his mother (in immortal terms) and therefore would be incest (lets save that for The Mortal Instruments). By all means, shipshipship (it would be cute if I didn't make them related), but it will _not_ be in this.  
Idk the canon, so Mother Nature will be 18-20.  
I'm going by Jack movie-canon with book-canon attitude, so he is 17 with (mostly) the mindset of about an immature 14 year old.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**I cranked this out in a couple of hours (yay me! I was on a roll today, I had _no_ block on this. I just got the idea and went with it after doing Jokul Frosti research which led to tumblr and some drawings I did NOT want to see but then to Winter Prince, hence the disclaimer), and there WILL be another part of this! **  
**Most of this book will be arcs/twoshots. The arcs are all related unless I specify they aren't in the same verse, 'kay? The first 2 are unrelated to each other and are in different 'verses than the rest.**  
**I hope you like my portrayal of MN! There will be something later about her dad being Pitch, Jack's grandfather is Pitch, etc etc etc, but it will be much later (or the same arc, I'm not really sure :3 like I said, plot=foreign concept)**  
**Anyway, this is Cat Lunanoff, signing off! *mock salute* R&R please!**


	6. (1) A is for Alone

**Where Do We Go From Here||Dictionary Drabbles- A is for Alone**

**Chapter Summary:** _Alone- __having no one else present; on one's own. _Jack doesn't like being alone.

**Chapter Rating:** K for angst

_[A 182-word drabble. First I've written, no flames. I hope this tides you over, it took all of 5 minutes.]_

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG._

* * *

_"Just leave me alone! You've done it all this time, it's easy, just **GO AWAY**!"_

The words echo in his ears as he sits numbly in the Antarctic, staring at something he keeps as a reminder. Jack hugs his knees to his chest as words flash through his thoughts, piercing the fog now and then. _Without others' help or participation; single-handed._

Jack grits his teeth and narrows his eyes at the looming sculpture before him. "_You said you wanted to be left alone, so **be** **alone**!"_

The boy covers his ears as if it will block out the roaring of hate, or maybe it's just blood. "_This is all **your** fault!" _A raised fist.

The snow that has been falling gently turns to small flecks of white being whipped around tumultuously, a miniature vortex shielding it's master further from the rest of the world. _I__solated and lonely._

"I- I didn't mean it," the Frost-Child whispers. "Please, I don't want to be alone again." _Having no companions in a particular position or course of action._

He regrets memorizing the dictionary definition of alone.


	7. (2) B is for Broken

**Where Do We Go From Here||Dictionary Drabbles- B is for Broken**

**Chapter Summary:** _Broken- N__ot functioning properly; out of working order._ Jack doesn't want to be broken anymore.

**Chapter Rating:** K+ for unknown-character death.

_This is possibly the most angst I've ever written, compacted into 127 words. I cried a bit, surprisingly, and I had almost no emotional ties to her. I didn't want to leave you too long without an update, so I made it an arc-series. Beware, angst-practice ahead._

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG._

* * *

"G-gyAH! _N-no!_ S-stop! _Please!"_ Another punch to the jaw. Jack is forced to watch as the one of only things he ever cared about is harmed. _"It's n-not funny!"_

"Broken little thing, isn't it," someone mutters. _Ruptured; torn; fractured._

"Let's put it out of it's misery."

A pathetically small snapping noise.

Jack screams in anguish and ices over everything for a mile around, including his captors. _"GENEVIEVE!"_

The small, deformed fox cub lays on the ground, her neck broken. Jack falls to the ground and cradles her rapidly chilling body as he cries droplets of ice. _"G-Genevieve,"_ he chokes out through his sobs. _"NopleaseIloveyoudon'tgo,"_ he gasps out. _"Don't leave me here alone."_

_Reduced__ to fragments; fragmented._

They both are.

Jack regrets memorizing the dictionary definition of broken.


	8. (3a) C is for Cold-Hearted

**Where Do We Go From Here||Dictionary Drabbles- C is for Cold-hearted**

**Chapter** **Summary:** _Cold-hearted-_ _Lacking sympathy or feeling; indifferent; unkind._ Jack doesn't intend to be cold-hearted.

**Chapter** **Rating:** K for minor character death.

_[I totally didn't mean to go this long without updating! There's like 30 of these Dictionary Drabbles.  
299 words long, five minutes to write at 10:30pm. __There will be more than one word per letter of the alphabet, some were too important to not do. __My drabbles will be 500 words or less, since I evidently can't do 100 -.-]_

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG._

* * *

Jack stands and clenches his fists, the small body resting in his pocket. _Lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm, ardor; dispassionate._

He turns to look at his assailants, lips curling in a sneer. Groundhog, New Years, and Fourth of July spirits. "I have no problem dispatching you," he says calmly to the ice-coated bodies as their eyes flicker around pleading to be let out. "I am going to enjoy this." His voice contains no emotion, as cold as his heart at this moment. _Not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive._

"You killed Genevieve, and for that you will pay."

He swings his staff around like a baseball bat, bashing in the ice around the New Years Baby's head, indifferent to the muffled cries as the infant spirit's body freezes solid and shatters with another hit. He turns on July next and tips her over, planting his bare foot on her neck and watching her skin darken with frostbite until she stops moving and her skin disintegrates, revealing pale bones encased in ice.

He stares the Groundhog down, then releases him from the ice. "Go spread the word that these bastards are dead. And pass along a warning. _No one messes with Winter anymore._"

The oversized rodent nods and burrows into the ground frantically, sure to give the sign of two more weeks of winter this year and many after.

"Jack," Tooth's broken voice wavers from behind him. He does not turn to face her and the others that have surely accompanied her.

"They deserved it," he says coldly. "They paid for their crimes. They will not bother me again." _Lacking sympathy or feeling; indifferent; unkind. _He flies away, knowing he is unwanted now that he is a killer.

Jack regrets memorizing the dictionary definition of cold-hearted.


	9. Arendelle pt1

**Where Do We Go From Here||Arendelle: A Special Girl (Princess?)**

* * *

**Chapter** **Summary:** Jack Frost meets Elsa of Arendelle. Part one of Arendelle arc.

**Chapter** **Rating:** K, for kuteness

_**Note:** This isn't the beginning of a Jelsa thing unless someone wants me to turn this into an eventual Jelsa arc/separate shortfic_  
_I've been reading too much Jelsa fanfiction, and I just saved about 46 Jelsa pictures _/).(\_ so this popped into my head  
Jack thinks of Elsa like a little sister (for now), okay? No Jelsa (yet), she's seven, and this takes place before the accident (when she's eight)._

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG OR Frozen, whaddya think about that? *tries to be sassy* *fails to be sassy* *cries becaUSE I DON'T OWN AND IT'S HEARTBREAKING*_

* * *

"Jack Frost?"

Jack whips his head around, back to the stained-glass window he just finished frosting over, but he can't see inside. "D-did-" He then shakes his head and prepares to fly away. "Nah. They _couldn't_ have-"

"Mr. Frost, don't go! _Please,"_ the voice tacks on the mannerism at the end as an afterthought.

"Who said that?" He spins in circles in midair, searching for the source of the voice, a young girl by the sound of it.

He hears a small feminine gasp. "It really _is_ you! Hi, Mr. Frost!" The window swings open with a rusty creak, as if it has gone years without movement. Behind the glass is a small girl perched on a window seat. She has a thin nightgown on, much to thin for her to have the window open in _his_ weather, and ribbons tied to the ends of her twin braids.

All Jack can do is float and try to process what just happened. "A-are you-" he looks around behind him as if there was another person named 'Mr. Frost' she might be talking to. "-talking to _me?"_ He points to himself hesitantly.

The girl beams. "Yeah! Come on in, Mr. Frost. Mummy says it's not nice to leave people waiting outside." The girl's hand shoots out and grabs his before he can protest, swiftly yanking him in and shutting the window behind him. Despite the thrill of being seen, and heard, and touched -god, finally being _touched!_ It was like a dream come true!- he feels trapped in her room, as big as it is. There is no access to Wind in here, he is cut off from nature. Only once she releases his fingers does he realize what's happened.

"Oh, god, are you okay?" He covers his hands with the sleeves of his hoodie and grabs hers as he drops to a crouch, looking them over carefully, being sure not to touch them. "Are you cold? Are your hands numb? I'm _so_ sorry, this is all... my... fault..." he trails off softly, seeing no marks or blemishes on her milky skin. "What-?"

The little girl pulls her hand back and places a single finger on his parted lips, stopping him with a giggle. "I'm _fine,_ Mr. Frost." She twirls in a circle, skirt flaring, and Jack can't help but chuckle at how adorable she is. "See?"

Jack stops her with a _-covered-_ hand on her small head, kneeling to her height. "Alright, I see. Stop twirling, you're going to make yourself sick." _Lucky that time_, he thinks.

"No I won't," she protests weakly, swaying. "Just _di~i~zzy."_ She collapses onto her bum. _"Ow."_

"C'mon, it's getting late," he says with a glance at the window. It was already nighttime when he came, it must be way past her bedtime by now. "Time for bed."

"Aww, but Mr. Frost," she says with a pout. "I don't wanna go to bed!"

"Well, you have to, so there."

"But _why?"_

"Because I said so." He lifts her under the arms and settles her on her bed, careful not to touch her skin, pulling the covers over her and tucking her in snugly.

She yawns, hugging a velveteen rabbit to her chest. "G'night Mr. Frost," she mumbles.

"Goodnight-" he realizes he doesn't know her name.

"Elsa," she completes sleepily. "Just Elsa."

He grins. "Goodnight, Just Elsa."

"Wai'," Elsa slurs, already half asleep, grabbing for his hand. "Come back t'morrow?"

Jack smiles, gentler this time. "Of course, princess." Feeling more confident, he leans over and kisses her forehead, frost blooming from the spot before fading into her skin, already feeling brotherly affection for this little girl. That, and she doesn't get frostbite from touching him, so he doesn't need to hide it, especially not when she's fast asleep. "Pinky promise." Looping his little finger with her limp one for an instant, he frosts over her mirror in words, a message that will bring a bright a smile to her face in the morning.

Jack doesn't realize that the frost from his kiss hasn't, in fact, melted against her chilly skin.

He doesn't realize realized he is the same freezing temperature as her.

He doesn't realize that some of the frost on his body isn't his.

He doesn't realize why the temperature felt perfect in her room.

He doesn't realize how accurate his nickname for little Elsa, princess, really is.

He doesn't realize that her room and window is coated in ice _from the inside_.

He doesn't realize that the eldest Princess of the kingdom of Arendelle is _his_ Elsa.

He doesn't realize she has ice powers similar to his own.

He doesn't realize he is her savior, her idol, her hero, her role model.

All he realizes is that he has a reason to come back tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**What did y'all think? First thing with Elsa, ever, and it's going to be an arc through her childhood.**  
**Review/PM with ideas for this thing! Suggestions for pairings anything, whatever, I'll do it! (just not yaoi, I'm really _not_ good at that and I don't want to mangle anything :/ )**  
**Please please _please_ request something to do with "Come Little Children"! I am _obsessed_ with that overly creepy song.**  
**CL, signing off! *mock salute***


	10. The Frost Age

**Where Do We Go From Here||The Guardians Spark The Frost Age**

**Chapter ****Summary:** _Depressed- in a state of general unhappiness or despondency_. Jack can't help being depressed. But Jack's depression soon morphs into something much, _much_ more dangerous... _Fury- violence; vehemence; fierceness._

**Chapter Rating:** K+ for minor cursing, T for the A/N. This was supposed to be Depression but it turned into something else.

_[This is unrelated to any other arc.]_

* * *

_Disclaimer: I donut own RotG, 'kay?_

* * *

_**"Just be happy**__ already, would you?"_

_**"Stop**__ being all depressed."_

_"He's just looking for attention. __**Ignore him."**_

_I can't help it!_ Jack wanted to rage. _I don't __**like**__ being this way! It's __**your fault**__ I'm like this!_

"Quit it with the gloomy act already, you ain't fooling nobody!"

"I'm not acting!" _Melancholy, downhearted; down, dispirited._

"You know what? _Enough_ with pretending to be so depressed! You're _not!_ You're the bloody Guardian of Fun, you can't be anything but immature and annoying!"

_"Bunny!"_

"No, Tooth, the overgrown rodent is correct." Jack's voice was cold, masking his true emotions. _Sad and gloomy; dejected; downcast._ "I _should_ stop pretending to be what I'm not. I should stop pretending I feel like I belong. I should stop smiling to make you feel better; _you don't deserve it_. I should stop acting so damn cheerful all the time." His voice didn't crack or hesitate once despite his inner turmoil. _Low, heavy-hearted, morose; dismal, tearful_.

"North, I am not your son. You can't give me curfew and try to make me eat more and you have absolutely no right whatsoever to _punish_ me for doing what I was made to do!" Cold fury and raw emotion leaked into his voice. _Unhappy; miserable_. "Tooth, if you stick your fingers into my mouth one more time I will bite them off. You're unbelievably lucky I have no gag reflex. Sandy, I physically cannot sleep restfully every night the way I should, stop making me drowsy while I'm doing my job! Get control over your own sand!" They all shrank back in newfound fear of the Frost-Child, but Bunny received the brunt of his anger.

"And _you,"_ his voice dripped loathing. "No one died and made you Manny. You can't just strut around like you own everything, you can't say what you feel like saying without concern for anyone else. If you don't filter your thoughts before spewing them at me, I won't either. Time for a taste of your own medicine, you stupid mutated rat." He took a deep breath, twisting his dark internally-directed thoughts outward. It felt _good_ to be angry at someone other than himself for once. _Unrestrained or violent anger, rage, passion._

"Rabbits aren't native to Australia. Your accent makes you sound like a dumb hick. You're less intelligent than I was at my birth and you have no regard for anyone but yourself. You expect to be treated with respect when you treat everyone like dirt. Driving children to attempt suicide isn't very befitting of the supposed Guardian of _Hope."_ Jack spat at Bunny as he advanced, ice slithering across the floor and cementing everyone in place faster than the eye could see, working it's way upwards. "You never know a person as well as you think you do, and you underestimate me _every single time we fight_! But I won't hold back anymore. I _can't_ hold back anymore." His voice broke and the ice got thicker, his breaths bordering on sobs. "I'm sorry, but you are all going to die. I can't stop it anymore. I've opened the gates."

And the boy exploded with power, merely an empty vessel for the mighty force of nature he possessed minimal control over. The four Guardians froze solid, but the child-corpse kept spewing Winter, Ice and Snow and Frozen Winds blasting from his location out.

Animal froze, humans died, spirits were trapped for eternity, those who were close enough killed instantly. The lucky ones sensed it coming and retreated into a shelter of some sort underground or escaped to another realm. The entire globe was covered in miles of ice, the source of it constantly renewing the impossibly thick layers.

In a few billion years, his powers slowed and the ice receded, giving rise to a new civilization of living ice and previously inanimate objects that had weathered the endless winter. A few humans had been revived once the ice around them melted, but quickly perished due to lack of nutrients in the air and surroundings. The Age of Humans was over, and the Time of the Frost had passed, biding it's time until it's next chance.

And the Frost retreated back into its Host, content to slumber peacefully and wait, gathering the power once again bit by bit. The Frost was patient. This was the first time the Frost had an immortal Host, and it delighted in not having burned it out. It had grown to fit this boy perfectly in the time it had remained dormant, and it was reluctant to have to leave. So it stayed.

And there was no one left to remember it's previous Hosts, who hadn't survived long enough to release nearly as much Winter. The Frost had thoroughly worn itself out this time, to it's great pleasure. Father Winter had only been capable of a few blizzards. Jokul Frosti had faded before the Frost could expend much of its energy. Queen Elsa of Arendelle had found magic gloves that kept the Frost at bay until her death. Frosty the Snowman was a mistake.

Jack Frost had been the Frost's best choice yet! If it had a physical body and voice, it would have squealed with happiness. Jack Frost was an excellent vessel, dead and not needing fuel or nutrition of any sort so he could survive anything as well as being ridiculously emotional and unstable and incapable of denying the Frost very much for very long. It was just a matter of centuries before the Frost would reemerge, but it would watch over Jack from within and make sure nothing killed him before it got the opportunity to create another Frost Age.

Jack Frost was the Frost's new favorite toy, and the Frost wanted to play with him for as long as it could before a different one caught its attention.

Mother Nature nurtured Jack and the Frost back to health once the Age was over, changed but unharmed, knowing what was inside her son but not caring.

After all, the Earth will survive anything. The Earth will move on regardless.

Humans won't.

* * *

**A/N:  
**[I got a review questioning my mental health (it greatly amused me), so let me just say I am not this fucked up in the head. I think a lot about death and extinction and pathetically morbid shit, but I am a perfectly normal person (well, except that I write and read and live and breathe fanfiction, is that considered 'normal'?). I am not suicidal nor do I wish this would happen, but I am dangerously curious, and I was half asleep writing this after reading **_"Quarantine: The Loners (book one)"_ **which is fucking _filled_ with death and blood and violence and shit so do not blame me for the disturbed thoughts I had after that.]  
**Whoa, morbid much? This was originally a Dictionary Drabble but it somehow got out of my control and wrote itself and holy mother of fuck this is fucking creepy. It started as Depression, morphed into Fury, then like wtf suddenly there's the whole "the Frost" bit at the end. I've been playing too much Plague Inc., this is like the Neurax Worm thing (which is actually ridiculously fun and totally worth the money, just buy it and start it in Russia or China, it's like $4 total for the Worm upgrade and app)**  
**Lemme just say this loud and clear: THIS SCARES ME IT'S FUCKING CREEPY MAN I WISH I'D NEVER WROTE IT**  
**And it is in no way shape or form related to any other thingy in this big book of thingys.**  
**I actually love writing Jack finally getting fed up with Bunny and yelling at him, so any requests that deal with that are fun!**  
**This took me maybe 45 minutes to write. Yay me!  
O.O Please request something I have writers block for all the arcs and I want to break it so badly I'm begging you I'll write it whatever it is just request _something._**  
**CL, signing off! *mock salute***


	11. (3b) C is for Cold

**Where Do We Go From Here||Dictionary Drabbles- C is for Cold**

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** _Cold- having a relatively low temperature; having little or no warmth_. Jack doesn't like being cold.

**Chapter** **Rating:** K, though I think it gets angsty. Maybe.

_[234 words. They're shortening, I think. This one has been on my mind for a while, I just didn't feel like writing it.]_

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own RotG._

* * *

_"It's **freezing!"**_

_"Urgh, its that blasted Jack Frost **again."**_

_"Why can't he just **tone down the cold**?"_

_Feeling an uncomfortable lack of warmth; chilled._

"Whoa, Jack, you're freezing!" Tooth exclaims thoughtlessly. _Having a temperature lower than the normal temperature of the human body._

"I'm always like that," Jack says impassively.

"You're gonna give someone frostbite," Bunny mutters. "Can you stop making it so damn cold?"

Cold. Jack has always been cold.

"No," Jack says, his voice like ice. _Lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm. _"If you don't like the cold, you don't like me."

"Then I _bloody hate you!"_ Bunny snaps. "Now quit making it so _freezing!"_

"I can't," he says coldly. "I guess we were never friends if you can't accept what I really am."

"And what might _that_ be?" Bunny is irritated and angry from the low temperature. Tooth is distraught but cannot bring herself to do anything.

"I am Winter. I am Cold."

"Then get out! _No one likes winter anyway!"_

Jack's expression hardens and his eyebrows set themselves in a glare. "Winter doesn't need approval. Winter doesn't need belief. Winter _is."_ Jack freezes Bunny's ears together before the window shatters and Wind-North rushes in, sucking him outside into a blizzard of cold fury.

Jack wants to sob into his hands but he can't dredge up the care. _Not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive._

Jack regrets memorizing the dictionary definition of cold.


	12. Arendelle pt2

**Where Do We Go From Here||Just Like Me**

**Chapter** **Summary:** Jack and Elsa get to know each other a little better.

**Chapter** **Rating:** K, like the entirety of this arc.

_[It came out much shorter than I meant it but I started it while I was on a roll with the Dictionary Drabbles and it turned out very minimal and external and formal. Whatever, I like it besides that. Only 630 words instead of well over 1,000 like most chapters.]_

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own RotG or Frozen, get with the program people. Yeesh._

* * *

"Mr. Frost! You came back!"

Jack chuckles and pats Elsa's head lightly, a set of new gloves on his hands. "'Course I did kiddo, what are friends for?"

Elsa's bright blue eyes open even wider, if possible. "You're my friend? I've never had a friend before."

Jack's heart aches, and he feels the urge to take her into the village to play with other children, but he selfishly tucks that thought away. Elsa is _his_ friend. His _only_ friend. And he is hers. It will stay like that forever and ever, Jack and Elsa and Elsa and Jack. "Well, yeah, we're friends, right?" She nods eagerly, bringing a smile to both pale faces. "Then I'll be here for you. Just ask Wind for Jack Frost when you need me, and I'll come right to you."

"Who's Wind?" Her nose scrunches slightly, and her jealousy isn't as well-disguised as his. It makes him feel better.

"Wind is, y'know, the wind. I'll teach you how to talk to her if you want. She's like my big sister."

Elsa's eyes lose the darkened look and start to twinkle again. "Like me and Anna!" She says it like _'Ah-nah'_. "My little sister! She's sick," she says gloomily, gesturing to the empty pink bed across from hers. "But she should be better soon, and then we can all play together!"

Jack is a bit worried for the youngest sister. He still fails to notice all the room's special qualities from last night, and that they are only centered around Elsa's portion of the room. "Do you want to visit her?"

Elsa shakes her head. "Mummy says I can't get sick too. I have to wait until Anna gets better before I can get sick."

Jack nods sagely. "Ah, I see. Well, in the meantime, do you want to build a snowman?"

The little girl bounces up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly. "Yeah! I'll do the magic!"

"The wha-?" Jack manages before Elsa focuses, points her hands at the room, and a burst of ice and winter magic shoots out of her hands and explodes into thousands of snowflakes that drift down softly.

Elsa goes up to Jack and grabs his hand, pulling him into the snow with her. "I'm just like you!"

Jack nods a few times, dazed as he watches the snow as if he's never seen any before. _"Just... like... me..."_ he mumbles quietly. He quickly shakes off the fog clouding his mind and beams at Elsa, so as not to worry her. "Let's play, princess!" He now knows why Elsa can touch him without being hurt. "Show me what you can do!"

With a giggle, the room explodes into winter, courtesy of the future Queen of Arendelle. "C'mon, I want to show you Olaf!"

The rest of the day is spent in fun and games and a lopsided snowman, and is ended with a promise to come back the next day.

It is the first of many such promises, promises Jack never breaks, because he has finally found someone just like him. In time, Anna sees him too, and the three have as much fun as their childish hearts desire. The two little girls begin calling him Jack instead of Mr. Frost, and the three- well, four, including Wind- are the best of friends.

Everything is perfect for two more years.

And then tragedy strikes, for fate has already determined that nothing can be perfect forever.

In a span of hours, everything changes, and from that day on, things begin spiraling downwards faster than seemingly possible.

Nothing will ever be the same again.


	13. Arendelle pt3

**Where Do We Go From Here||Accidents Happen**

**Chapter Summary: **It's not her fault.

**Chapter Rating: **K

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Rotg._

* * *

"Elsa, I'm here! Sorry I'm late, I- what's wrong?" Jack flings his staff aside and drops to a kneel in front of little Elsa, wiping frozen tears from under her eyes. "Elsa, princess, you can tell me anything." He has gotten better with children since befriending the little girls. Speaking of which, Anna isn't in this room, it's a different room altogether and there's only one bed in it.

Elsa sobs heart-wrenchingly, covering her face with her hands. "G-go away!"

The words hit him like a physical blow, but instead he sits and gently pulls her into his lap, wrapping his arms and cloak around her like a shield from the world. "Elsa, you don't mean that-" he tries again, hiding the pain at being pushed away.

"I- I _do!"_ She tries convincing them both, but when he shimmers and feels less solid around her, she gasps in horror and looks up at him. "I do," she says more firmly, but this time Jack still feels as strong and cuddly as always. "I'm a monster. I hurt people. I don't want to hurt you too." Tears are still streaming down her face and her voice cracks but her resolve does not waver.

Jack is mad now. "Elsa, who told you that? You are _not_ a monster, you are a beautiful little girl with a special gift. You know what they say, right? Cold hands, warm heart. I have cold hands too. We both have warm hearts." He takes both of her small hands and holds them in his slender ones.

"B-but I hurt Anna!"

Well, whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't that. "I'm sure you didn't-"

"But I did! We had to go to the trolls to save her and we moved my stuff here and I can't ever open that door or talk to anyone anymore because I'm out of control and I need to stay away from people or I'll hurt them like I hurt Anna!" She dissolves into incoherent sobs again, gripping his shirt tightly and further freezing it in her anguish.

"Elsa, whoever told you that is lying. You would never hurt someone on purpose, and you can't hurt me." He rubs her back in soothing circles, and once she is relatively calm, he sets her on her feet and stands. "Hit me."

"W-what?"

"Hit me with your powers as hard as you can."

"N-no!" Elsa shakes her head furiously but Jack cups her face in his hands and makes her look at him.

"Do it, Elsa. I need you to know you can't hurt me, an the only way to do that is for you to hit me."

"But what if I-"

Jack stops her with a finger over her lips. "I'll be fine Elsa. If you believe that I'll be fine, I'll be fine."

Elsa bites her lip, hard, but nods. "Okay. If you _promise_ it won't hurt."

"I promise." Jack looks her right in the eye.

Still biting her lip, Elsa tentatively unchains the beast that is her power. It flies out of her fingertips in the deceptively innocent-looking form of blue light and slams into Jack's chest so hard it sends him flying backwards into the wall, where he crashes into the vanity mirror and shatters it before practically bouncing off and landing on the carpet. "Jack!" She runs to him and shakes his shoulders, hoping he isn't unconscious like Anna was. She is the only one who can see him, and she doesn't know how to reverse what she's done.

Jack pushes himself up from his ungraceful landing, a hand on his head. He mutters, "Ow," very quietly so Elsa doesn't hear him. Fixing an overly bright smile on his face, he hugs her tightly without showing her his wincing face. Hopefully she can't see what hurt him. "See Elsa? I'm perfectly fine!"

Elsa pulls back and looks at him with concern, pushing his hair back from his forehead. "Are you sure, Jack? You don't have a fever? You feel so warm-"

Jack laughs. "I'm okay, I promise. This is great though, I had no idea you had this much power stored inside of you!"

"How is this great?" Elsa demands, pulling him to his feet. He lifts her onto her bed before she can step in the mirror shards. "I threw you into the wall!"

"No, it means your powers isn't an endless reservoir of Winter," _like mine is_. "If you can get rid of enough, you won't spew ice randomly and you can master it. Just by all the exertion you did today, you should be good for a little while." He doesn't mention that he had absorbed the power she had shot him with (it was like being injected with pure caffeine), and while it _had_ hurt, it gives him precise details about what her magick is like. It also shows him that his very presence near her and interaction with the little girl is strengthening her powers far beyond her control. "Like, shoot me again. I can take it and deposit it on the mountaintop."

Elsa gets upset again thinking of blasting him again and he sits on her bed with her. "But I already hurt Anna, what if I hurt my parents while they're in here? I _am_ a monster!"

"Stop _saying_ that Elsa!" His tone makes her look at him, and it confuses him. He sounds inured and hurt. "You are _not_ a monster, you are _my Elsa."_ He pulls her close and takes out her braid, finger-combing her hair. "Let me just get this straight. Did you try to hit Anna?"

Elsa's eyes open wide in distress and she gasps, almost yanking her head away from him. _"No!_ I _love_ Anna, I would _never_ try to hurt her!"

"Did you ever intentionally hurt someone using your powers?"

"No."

"Have you ever gone on rampages through town roaring and screaming?"

Elsa giggles, the reaction he was looking for. "No."

"Then you are not a monster. Accidents happen, Elsa. It wasn't your fault. The situation got out of control and bad things happened. You did the best you could and you are a great sister. Anna loves you as much as you love her, she knows you would never hurt her on purpose."

Elsa quiets, the cool fingers brushing her scalp soothing her. Once her hair is in soft, gentle waves down her back, she leans back against his chest and snuggles up to him. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right." Jack's voice is gentle and calm. "Accidents happen, Elsa. How many do you think I've had? Let me tell you, it's more than you can count. It's not your fault." Leaning onto his side, he tucks her under the covers. "Go to sleep Elsa. You've had a long day. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" she murmurs right before she falls asleep.

"Promise," Jack swears, getting up and cleaning up the glass from the mirror as well as picking a few splinters out of his neck and head. Once the cleaning is done, he sits in a chair in the corner with his staff propped up beside him, falling asleep as well.

It does them both good. As Jack had said, it had been a long day.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Sorry for the gap between updates but I don't want to publish more than once a day. **  
**Today is another snow day (I swear, Jack won't leave my town alone!) and that's why I'm updating at this time.**  
**I'll try to update twice a week, I have so many arcs and stuff ready, but I really want requests! Requests or prompts or headcanons or stuff you want to see, I swear I'll do whatever you want (except yaoi, I suck at it, sorry). I especially love writing scenes that could be interpreted as romantically meant but in actuality aren't, like between Jack and MN and Jack and June (they're a family, so no, but immortals act differently than mortals do).**  
**Anyway, R&R! Check out iamanawesometaco on Wattpad and critique my work!**  
**Um, feel free to critique this too, and flames are totally welcomed, I'll use them to bake cupcakes for you lovely people! (Internet cupcakes, really, but the intended sentiment is the same, and any flames I get can't possible be worse than the bottom of my laptop, so it's all good.)**  
**This is Cat Lunanoff, signing off! *mock salute***


	14. Arendelle pt4

**Where Do We Go From Here||I Promise OR All My Fault**

**Chapter Summary:** It's not Elsa's fault. It's _his._

**Chapter Rating:** K+ for a lame attempt at angst and some self-blame.

_[268 words. Another external drabble-type part. I like writing this arc in drabble form, it keeps it from getting over complicated like my other arcs. Also, this is punctuated the way it is for emphasis, so wait a second after reading each line, and another extra beat where there are '...'s.]  
_

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own RotG._

* * *

_"I'll come back."_

_"I'll protect you."_

_"I'm fine."_

_"I'll be here when you wake up."_

_..._

_"I promise."_

So many promises. They overwhelm Jack, weighing heavy on his shoulders and heart. He doesn't know how long he can fulfill them. He has already broken one. Another was a blatant lie.

Yes, he came back tomorrow.

Yes, he stayed until she woke up.

But he didn't protect them.

He isn't fine.

He won't ever be fine again.

He didn't protect Anna, didn't help Elsa. He didn't train Elsa. Didn't assist her in learning to control her powers.

He is a coward. He is a failure of a guardian. He doesn't deserve their trust. He shouldn't be the one protecting them. He isn't responsible enough. His little princesses will get hurt because of his incompetence.

It is all his fault.

He has to break another promise.

He won't come back.

He can't come back.

It isn't Elsa's fault.

Elsa is not a monster.

No, not Elsa, never Elsa, not his sweet baby girl.

It is all _his_ fault.

_He_ is the monster.

He will protect them this time.

He will stay away from them.

Forever.

Even if it kills him.

He decides his life is not worth living without them. The only way for him to guard them and save them is secretly.

He watches from afar, hides in the shadows, protects them without interacting with them.

And every day, he dies a little inside to protect those he loves...

...from _himself._

* * *

**A/N:**  
**The next one is more of a story format than this one.  
I was on a roll with this but I'm stuck at the next part -.-  
I don't know when I last updated but it was far too long ago, I think. Sorry. Happy late Valentine's day! I meant to write something for this... oh well I'll write it now. I was busy last night. No, not like that /).- I was writing pt3 of WP. It has a-hole Guardians in it because they are my absolute favorite to write, idk, I just blame their attitudes on the Center-Greed which comes into play for the first time in Connections (which isn't posted... I insert my headcanons in the order I think of them regardless of the arc and previous stuff so some arcs just make no sense). Idk guys I'm pretty stupid...  
And hopefully updates every 2-3 days so that you won't miss one from the same day (like 2 chapters on the same day, only read the second one because you didn't realize there were two etc). Also I go by US ET and am strangely nocturnal... but I usually get back quick enough (like, within 24 hours) if you want to talk."  
This is Cat Lunanoff, signing off! *mock salute* *pokes eye* ow, ow...**


	15. Winter Prince pt2

**Where Do We Go From Here||Family Bonding**

**Chapter ****Summary:** We meet the rest of Jack's family... Jack was right when he called a family dinner a disaster. Outfits have to be made for the Ball too. Joy. Basically a filler chapter in the arc so I could just develop them as a family unit a bit more?

**Chapter ****Rating:** T for June-freaking-Summers who is infamous for her sailor mouth and unrestraint with her usage of the f-bomb and Vuli's obnoxiousness

* * *

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own RotG etc etc but I_ am_ the proud possessor of self-diagnosed antisocial-disorder-thingamabob-y and an extreme phobia/hatred of face-to-face talking with people. You internet sorts are much better._

* * *

"HEY! That is why no one likes you!" Jack and Seraphina walked into the dining room in time to see June bitch-slap Vuli across the face with all her might, knocking him out of his ornate chair and leaving a bright red handprint on his face that was blistering. Jack chucked a snowball at his older brother and it sizzled as it came in contact with the mark.

The teen was crouched on the table, her bright red hair emitting a heat mirage, and she was practically growling. A camera on the table burst into flames and all that was left was a pile of ash; June must have increased the temperature enough in that area to make it short out and burn.

Jack intervened; Mother was more of the 'I won't be able to fight your battles in the real world, use this as practice' kind of mom. "Whoa! June, as much as I love seeing Vuli laying on the floor like that, can you maybe get off the table?"

"Shut up!" she screamed. A torch on the wall went on fire and his eyes went wide, backing away from her as she whipped around to face them. June's eyes were glowing red with anger.

"Junie-" Lily began timidly.

"I said _shut up!"_ June cried again loudly and jumped at Lily.

Jack yelled a war cry and got into the battle physically, knowing full-well what happened when he and June fought hand-to-hand. But he couldn't let his baby sister get hurt. He leapt at June and got to her before she could get to Blossom, wrapping his arms around his older sister from behind and pinning her arms to her sides. They both gasped at the temperature difference but Jack wouldn't let go, landing on the table with a _bang_ that rattled the windows. They rolled around on the table, a burning, freezing mess, both struggling for dominance and to get on top. Eventually the blows stopped flying and limbs quit their flailing, ending with Jack holding June's wrists to the table above her head and sitting on her legs with his knees on either side of her so she couldn't move. "June, snap out of it!" She was still trying to get free, but Jack was too strong. _"You tried to hurt Blossom."_

All the anger drained from her eyes, leaving them their natural red-rimmed green, the green clouded over as usual. She stopped moving and allowed him to hold her down, looking upset, and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. She didn't look like a wild animal anymore, just a lost little girl.

Upon seeing she was back to normal, Jack stood and jumped off the table, wincing at all the burns from where their skin had made contact. June was only dangerous to them when her eyes became glowing red, not even any white or pupil showing but just bright uninterrupted red filling the space between her eyes and seen through her eyelids when they closed. When the eyes were gone, she was back to herself. It was a condition from when she had been mortal, they had figured out; she had a dual personality that took over when June couldn't deal with things, and it wasn't a nice alternate persona, destroying everything in it's path, no matter the cost. Anything could trigger it, but Blossom was usually the relaxant, her sisterly instincts overriding the fury.

June climbed off the table cautiously so as not to scare Lily, her legs shaking from using so much power. "Blossom? Lily, sweetie, are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

Lily crept out from under the table where she had taken refuge during the fight. "Junie? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Blossom. I'm _so_ sorry."

Lily shuffled to the teen and the girl kneeled to her height. "D-did Missy come back?"

The elder nodded, ashamed. "I didn't mean it, anything I said, I swear it wasn't me. I'll try harder next time."

"It's okay Junie," Lily hugged the older girl.

June wrapped her arms around her little sister, resting her chin on the small blonde head. "If Missy comes back, I want you to run." She looked at the others. "And I want you to snap me out of it, no matter what. I don't care if you have to break my arm, just make her go away. Dump snow on me, whatever you have to do, just don't let me hurt anyone."

Jack nodded, frost blooming over his arms, midsection where his shirt had slid up, neck, and face where his skin was turning red. Because of his low temperature, the burns hurt much worse but healed quicker, his body naturally repairing itself faster. He and Mother were always the most adept at calming her down, Vuli just making her angrier and Lily too scared to go near her. "Sis, what made you so mad?"

June looked upset, acting like the young woman she was for once. "H-he made fun of my outfit. He said I look stupid and my Color is copper and copper is inferior to bronze so he's better than me."

Mother snorted. "Juniper, love," June bristled at the use of her full name, "-your Color reflects who you are. You are a fiery red copper, good for conducting heat and electricity. Bronze is a duller metal compromised of copper and tin, which is all Vuli is, if he is going to be such an ass to his sister. See? Lily is brass, similar-looking to gold but different in it's melting points and malleability."

"Then what's Jack-Jack?" Lily asked innocently. She was used to vulgar language, living as long as she did with easily angered Spirits.

Vuli snickered. "Wasn't that a baby who could set himself on fire in some Disney movie?" An ice splinter landed an inch away from his ear, imbedded deep into the floor. He froze, seeing both his younger brother's and his mother's hand extended, so he couldn't tell who had warned him. He decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Jack is platinum and silver. I do believe that it is previously unheard of, having two Colors, but as you know, his father is the Moon and thus he will be different than us. I think the silver is a side effect of being a Moon-creation and the platinum is his natural Color. It is pure, more expensive and rare than silver, and is whiter. Silver has gray undertones that give it it's slightly darker appearance, and it is a cheap and common material. Fitting, for the Moon." Seraphina didn't bother to disguise her disdain for the Moon. In fact, she wouldn't have invited the Guardians if the festival didn't occur at both day and night for three days straight and she did not want to offend one of the second most powerful supernatural beings to exist around earth and his minions. And they were Jack's new friends.

Jack, the only one new to the bi-centennial changing, stared at June and Vuli openly, his jaw hanging in shock as he _really_ saw them for the first time today. Replacing June's customary tie-dye skinny jeans and red bikini top (that thing was strapless, and the only thing holding it together was a 'v' of wire in the front; Jack _really_ didn't want to be around when it broke) was a dress just like Lily and Mother's, but there seemed to be flames somehow sewn into the coppery fabric. The ring on her right middle finger was no longer blackened metal but had a copper embellishment in the middle. Vuli was dressed almost identically to Jack except his Color was bronze, the paintbrush tucked behind his ear a burnished bronze too. _So_ that's_ what June was being so sensitive about. Vuli probably took a picture._

Mother clapped abruptly, once. "Alright, that's enough monologing for one night! Sit down, sit down, it's time for dinner!" She pulled out a chair at the end of the table, everyone else following suit in their respective places.

Jack sat at the end of the table near Mother Nature, with Vuli on his other side. June took her seat across from Vuli and Lily beside her. Once they were seated and had napkins in their laps, little gold orbs of light drifted out of the door to the kitchen with trays on their backs. There were small sounds of the dishes being put down, and the family got a look at the dinner. It was classic family-style meal, with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, carrots and spinach, all sorts of 'comfort food'.

The four children all looked to their Mother, who pretended she didn't see the looks they were giving her and instead busied herself with taking a helping of mashed potatoes and passing the bowl. "Can someone pass the green beans?"

The kids all exchanged glances. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

"INCOMING!" Vuli yelled, flinging a spoonful of mashed potatoes at June. It hit her in the side of the face and she shrieked.

"VULI CHENJI I WILL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF- JACKSON DO NOT START WITH ME TODAY- IF YOU FLING ONE MORE THING AT ME!" June screamed, standing on her chair. The boys were already covered in assorted foods. "I'm going to take a shower," she muttered, smirking as she walked away. Several yelps informed her that her attempt at heating up the silverware had worked.

Lily stuck her tongue out at Jack. Jack frosted it, making her drink hot chocolate quickly to melt it. Vuli's thrown drink was sucked up by a few plants, then spat right back at him.

The food fight continued, full of shrieks and laughter, until a blob of creamed corn hit Mother Nature in the ear. Everyone froze, food falling to the floor and chairs tipping before they could be caught. "Who threw that." Mother's voice was deadly and low.

Jack raised a trembling hand. Mother threw a roll at his head and it hit him in the cheek. "You are _so_ gonna get it now, son!" she shrieked, her voice bubbling with mirth, leaping up on the table and pelting the remaining three. In no time she was just as dirty as the rest. June came back, fully clean with her short hair still wet (and steaming), and immediately jumped back into the fight.

Scratch that earlier statement, BEST FAMILY DINNER _EVER!_

* * *

**_~.:|EXTRA LONG BREAK|:.~_**

* * *

"Mooooom," Vuli whined.

"Do we _have_ to?" June continued, pouting.

"I don't _wanna!"_ Lily cried, crossing her arms and stomping her foot.

"Kill me _noowww,"_ Jack moaned, pulling his hair.

"That can be arranged," Mother said calmly. "Now get out from behind the screens. This isn't the first time you've had to do this, and it certainly won't be the last, so get your scrawny asses out here!"

"Urgh, _fine,"_ June muttered, stepping away from the screen that had shielded her. She was probably the most comfortable with it, wearing a bikini all the time, so just wearing a bathing suit ("There is no way in _hell_ you are making me go out there in a bra and panties!") around her siblings was fine with her.

Lily followed suit, reaching up to hold her older sister's hand and tugging at the hem of her yellow undershirt. Vuli came out third, rolling his eyes and keeping his arms crossed over his bare chest, ignoring the snickers at his maroon leaf-print boxers.

"Mother, can I have mine done in private?" Jack was a little embarrassed.

Sera huffed and planted her hands on her hips. "No. It will be girls in one room, boys in the other, and no one will make fun of your underwear. Okay?"

There was a small sigh and Jack suddenly sounded very young. "Okay." His voice resembled that of a child. He shuffled out nervously, his arms folded over his abdomen as he gripped his elbows. While the others were lean, the Frost-Child was most definitely the thinnest. His ribs were fairly easy to count, and his arms and legs were like twigs, bony shoulders and knobby knees even more pronounced without his clothes covering them. There was a large purple-black spot directly above where his heart was, growing and shrinking slowly with his sluggish heartbeat, and his fingers and toes appeared a similar shade, just a tiny bit, only made obvious without the blue fabric he wrapped himself in. He was very self-conscious, worried about what his siblings would say (especially about his white-and-blue snowflake boxers).

Instead of the reactions he had been expecting, either concern or disgust, Vuli strode over and slung an arm around his shoulders, daring anyone to say anything about his baby brother's physique with his deep brown eyes. "C'mon, little bro, let's go. I don't think the ladies can handle all... _this."_ He motioned vaguely in Jack's direction.

"But... you just gestured to all of me." Jack let his arms fall, feeling better about himself.

"Exactly." Vuli nodded satisfactorily.

"Hey!" June interjected. "You make our family sound incest-y!"

"Don't go to any pool parties when are any girls are there, ya' hear? They won't leave you alone," the Spirit of Autumn continued as if he hadn't heard his sister, but his snickers when Lily asked what incest was gave him away.

Jack grinned, striking a superman pose that made Vuli wince. It made the kid look so much smaller and thinner, as if he was frail and brittle and about to break. "More like you don't want to lose them to me."

"Aw, shut up. Let's get this over with."

"Race you!" Jack yelled gleefully, running off without warning.

Mother mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Vuli before he sprinted after his brother. Then she turned back to the other girls. "Get on the pedestals." They rolled their eyes, Lily just imitating June, but stood on the elevated platforms. With a snap of Mother Nature's fingers, glowing orbs of gold light zipped through the doorway, armed with pins, needles, fabric, measuring tapes, duct tape, and tasers.

The last two were not a good sign.

"Alright, I'll go start on the boys, be back in a jiffy!" Mother was out the door before one could say "Nature". Lily resigned herself to the torture, actually having fun, tying bits of ribbon around the orbs, declaring them as her own and such, making them glow noticeably brighter, while June kicked them away nastily and wound up duct-taped into position and dizzy from multiple taserings (being a good conductor of electricity _sucked_).

Ooh, today was just _not_ her day.

* * *

Sera popped her head in the doorway of the boys' room. "How's it going so far?"

"Good," Vuli and Jack chorused. They had gotten along well since Vuli's little bit of brotherly friendliness. It was more of a sibling protectiveness, 'no one makes fun of him but me' kind of thing, but still. Even Vuli wasn't mean enough to tease him about his malnourished body, instead shooting comments about underwear, ones Jack easily rebuked and replied to, and Vuli let him. They may be acting like regular brothers now, and tomorrow be back to fighting worse than ever, but there was a mutual understanding that they would never bring Jack's body into a fight, nor compare him to Vuli (who was pretty well-muscled), and they would act like today had never happened.

"Great!" Seraphina chirped brightly. The orbs were circling the boys, taking measurements, but Mother grabbed the papers they had somehow written on (despite lacking hands) and scanned them quickly, confirming the measurements with her eyes. "These are all good. I have a few designs for your outfits, I just want you to pick three of them!"

Ah. Now her chipper attitude was explained; it had to do with fashion and making her sons do something they absolutely dreaded.

The woman shoved a sketchbook into each Spirit's hands, a brown one with a leaf on it for Vuli and a blue one with a white snowflake for Jack. They each got a green highlighter too, for circling their favorite designs. Vuli flipped through his quickly, circling the ones that looked the most comfortable and handing it back like the book was a disease, but Jack took longer, meticulously looking at each one before circling his three. Mother practically ripped it out of his hands and checked which ones he had circled eagerly. "Ooh! You picked my favorites!" Yes, Jack knew that, there were so many notes and stars and hearts and checkmarks around them that he almost couldn't see the patterns. "Perfect! I want to do these myself!" She was visibly less thrilled with Vuli's choices, but she shrugged and began delegating tasks to the balls of light, which were off like they had been shot from a cannon.

"Are we done here?" Vuli asked impatiently. "I want to go home."

Jack did a double take. "You have a home?" His voice was full of awe that tugged at the others' heartstrings.

"You don't?"

Jack shook his head. "Just my lake. And I have my favorite tree." He looked proud of that.

"Where is it?" Mother asked with interest. "I would like to visit."

Jack waved his hand, yelping when a light-servant jabbed him with a pin as another draped fabric over him. "Burgess. It's where I drowned."

Vuli almost fell off his pedestal in shock, steadied by Seraphina. "Where you _drow-?!"_ Mother slapped her hand over his mouth and shook her head when her youngest son wasn't looking.

"Maybe you can show me later," the woman replied calmly. "It sounds delightful."

Jack beamed. "Yeah, it's beautiful! The lake is this pretty blue and its really clear-" He launched into a massive tirade about his lake, finishing breathlessly only once he was stabbed with another pin. "So, yeah," he finished lamely, rubbing his arm. "You should stop by."

"I'll make sure we all do that. Jack, I do hope you know you are welcome here whenever you want, however. You do not have to wait to be summoned. Winter Quadrant is your home, and I doubt you want that annoying Jokul Frosti to try to take over as the Spirit of Winter since you haven't been coronated yet, do you?"

Jack shook his head quickly. "I can't _wait_ for this to be over. It's going to be so _embarrassing."_

Mother tilted her head to the side, then adjusted his cape and stuck another pin in it. "I'm proud of you, my son, finally being officially coronated in just two months. I can hardly wait!" She clapped and Wind-East swirled around her, lifting and tucking bits of fabric here and there. She made some marks, then whipped the cloth off them. "Go get dressed. I'll need you tomorrow, but you're free for now. Go explore." Sera sat at a table with a sewing machine on top and the boys fled before she could ask them for help.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Boys will be boys..."

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Done because I don't really know what I tried to accomplish with this. It was really just goofy bonding.  
Sorry for not updating earlier blah blah, and I have a very late Valentine's Day update for you which will hopefully be ready by tomorrow, it's taken me two freaking days to write it, that is part of the reason I hate Valentine's Day. Plus, I'm single, so I get chocolate from my parents (which is good because they get me good chocolate). I really prefer Singles Awareness Day, but whatever!  
I just realized I was working on an arc about dead people that was going to evolve into romance on V-Day but all I got was Jack talking to a tombstone like a nutjob about how amazing Pippa was (#whoops).  
A-a-a-and I spent all day procrastinating by writing fanfiction instead of working on my novel... I mean I have like five years to write it like yo I'm just a teen but I really wanna get this shit done _but FanFiction... it calls to me..._ But maybe I'll post something that would go on the back of the book here later, so you guys can tell me what you think.**  
**Cat Lunanoff, signing off! *mock salute***


	16. Curse of Song pt1

**Where Do We Go From Here||Curse of Song (pt1)**

**Chapter Summary:** Jack pisses off the Spirit of Music. When will he learn not to randomly freeze people to the ground?  
Sonfic? Basically an intro into the arc (because all my other arcs are taking forever for my lazy butt to write) and I'm reeeeeally sorry about the lack of updates.  
Other segments will have songs, this one doesn't (because, y'know, intro).

**Chapter** **Rating:** This one, K. Will update the rating in later chapters because of cuss words in song lyrics.

* * *

_Disclaimer: I don't own RotG or any songs used in this arc._

* * *

"Get back here, Jack!" a pair of twins yelled frighteningly. "Unfreeze us!"

"Sorry, no can-do girls!" Jack called teasingly as he walked backwards. "I have to get to North's place, there's a meeting that I absolutely _can't_ miss! Have fun without me!"

"Oh no you don't-" the blue-eyed one growled.

"You're not going anywhere," the orange-eyed one finished.

"We've got a-"

"Little surprise for you."

"Don't leave yet-"

"We haven't given you our present!" They cried, alternating with each half-sentence. The blue one started each one, orange finished.

_"Jackson Frost-"_

_"From days of yore-"_

_"Trapped us here-"_

_"Without our core!"_

_"You don't talk about your feelings-"_

_"Our punishment might send you reeling!"_

Jack stumbled back in shock as the twins' hair started floating and their eyed glowed, tripping over a tree and landing flat on his back painfully.

_"Cures short and curses long, cast over thee the curse of song!"_ they yelled to the heavens in unison, holding their arms up. The sky thundered once without any lightning nor clouds and then the freaky teens went back to normal.

"And dance," one added. "It didn't rhyme so we didn't say it-"

"But it sorta goes along with, like a given, y'know?" the other explained.

"There you go!" Blue chirped cheerfully.

"Have fun without us!" Orange mocked.

"Don't you have a meeting to go to?" They cackled together as Jack flew away desperately.

"Weirdos," he muttered, shaking his head. "They seriously need to get a life." He ignored the feeling in his gut that screamed something was horribly wrong with him and instead flew straight to the North Pole, but no matter what he tried he simply couldn't rid himself of the sensation of thousands of creepy bugs crawling all over him.

_Must be a side effect of that 'curse',_ he thought skeptically. _What the heck does a curse of song mean anyway?_

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Tsk tsk Jack, when will you learn? Basically an arc that I can use my favorite songs in. Some will be funny, others serious. Some will be rated T because I listen to some, uh, un-classy music? Is that how you phrase it? Well, some (most) of my music has cuss words in it, so, um, don't read those if you don't read T stuff.  
I kind of had a dream, and I was listening to Panic! At the Disco while I was sleeping and it wound up with Jack hiding in Antarctica singing breakup songs and then Pitch shows up while he's singing _Nicotine_ by P!AtD and he's trying to stop but the curse won't let him and Pitch is just kind of standing there with a deadpan stare... and then it's all really awkward and funny and then Jack winds up singing Gwen Stefani songs randomly in the middle of a Guardian meeting. Yeah, it was a weird dream.  
Um, the girls, Orange and Blue? Another OC, the Spirit of Music. They change to suit the different genres of music and are two parts of this one girl named Muzyka Mousiki who is like the supreme music-lady. She's not very important except that she casts the curse.  
Sorry it's so short, I'm working on my other arcs, see ya'!  
This is Cat Lunanoff, over and out! *mock salute***


	17. Heartbeats

**Where Do We Go From Here||Heartbeats**

**Chapter Summary:** Sneak attack! Tooth's heart beats fast, Jack's beats slow, but so what? That just means they balance each other out!

**Chapter Rating:** K for Kute Rainbow Snowcone moments

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own..._

* * *

Jack waited for his opportunity to strike. His staff was set off to the side and he was hidden in shadow. It was nighttime on this side of the world. Then, he saw his window and ran.

"Oof!" Tooth exclaimed softly, jumping a little in surprise. "Jack?"

"Mmhm," he murmured into the feathers of her back. He was nestled between her wings with his arms carefully around her waist and his face resting between the tops of her shoulder blades. She had finally stopped fluttering her iridescent wings and had stepped down onto her platform, so he had snuck up on her from behind and hugged her. "Yeah Tooth?"

She hesitated. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging you," was his muffled reply. His cool breath on her feathers sent shivers down her spine.

"Okay then?" Tooth wasn't exactly sure what to do, since she couldn't go back to work with a Winter Spirit as a belt. She really had no option except to stand there and wait for him to let go. Not that she wanted him to release her; she had needed a break anyway, and here was a perfect excuse to take time off. Her fairies could manage themselves for the time being.

Good, he thought, she didn't push him away or whap him with her wings, and those were the only things he worried about. Jack inhaled softly, smiling into her back as he hunched over. She smelled like tropical fruit and mint.

Tooth rested her hands over his, for once unsure of what she should do with herself. She began playing with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, tracing the delicate frost patterns that never faded.

"Geez, Tooth, calm down," Jack said after a while of silence. "You make me want to hyperventilate or something."

"Why? Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"No, your heart just beats really fast." He whispered into her feathers against the rapid _lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub_ audible through her back, _"And you're really warm and soft."_

She didn't hear him whisper, only felt his mouth move. "Well, I do use a lot of energy," she chuckled weakly.

"Right, 'cuz your wings... I know what it's like."

"They have to flap really fast to keep me up. It's rather tiring, especially since I fly when I give out directions." She relaxed; his face was like an ice pack right where her wing muscles were sore, and the coolness felt good.

"Was I bothering you? Should you have been working?" Now Jack was the worried one.

"I needed a break anyway," was her reply. "You gave me a reason to stop."

"Good." He unknowingly rubbed his cheek against her, like she was plush toy, making her cheeks redden. "You need to rest more often. Working 24/357 isn't good for you."

"I was made to do this. I don't need to sleep very often anyway, you know what that's like."

"I know, but still... _fine._ We'll discuss this later."

"Hmm," she murmured absentmindedly. "Hey, if my heartbeat makes you hyperventilate, how fast is yours?"

He hesitated. "Slow. Very slow."

"Can I listen?"

"If you promise not to freak out."

Tooth twisted in his arms, tucking in her wings so she didn't hit him in the face, and she pressed her ear to Jack's chest. For a while, she didn't hear, well, anything. "I don't hear it."

"Wait for it... _now."_ The Spirit of Winter held her head to his chest just in time for her to hear a _lub...dub _that was so sluggish and quiet that she almost missed it. "That was it."

"...Is that normal for you?" She kept her head against his torso and left her hands on his chest, listening for the next beat.

"Yeah. I mean, technically my body is frozen, so all my life processes are slowed if they still even work. You're not freaked out?"

"I promised I wouldn't, right? Besides, everyone's different." Of course, her heart was beating faster with invisible anxiety for her friend, and he could feel it speed up, but she wasn't going to comment and neither was he.

His arms were still around her waist and he rested his chin on top of her head. "Aren't you cold?" _Lub...dub._

"Not really." _Lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub_. "Are you warm?"

_Lub...dub_. "A little." He rocked them back and forth. _But it's from the hug, not the climate_. "I don't mind though." _If it meant spending more time with you, in this hug, I would live on the sun._

_"You_ _make me melt, Toothiana,"_ Jack whispered into her crest of feathers, his heartbeat hastening. _"But in all the right ways."_

Tooth heard his heart under her ear. _Lub-dub,_ it went, to her surprise. _Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub_. Still slow, but faster than before. She wanted to say something, but more than that she just wanted him to keep his arms around her and make her feel safer than she had ever felt, so she stayed quiet.

In the end, it was Baby Tooth that split them apart, chirping excitedly about a shiny right central incisor she had retrieved.

They jumped apart, brushing themselves off and blushing slightly, even though they tried to convince themselves it was just a completely platonic hug between friends... that lasted about half an hour.

_Riiiiiight._

"Oh, Baby Tooth, that's beautiful! Look how he brushed!" Tooth cooed halfheartedly, taking the offered tooth.

"Sorry Baby Tooth, was I stealing your mama away for too long?" Jack scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Whoops. You should probably get back to work Tooth. Sorry for distracting you."

Somewhere in her mind a flirtatious voice purred, _Oh, you can distract me any time, Jack,_ but Tooth ignored it with an only slightly darker flush. "No, it's fine, you're never a distraction. Visit whenever you want!"

Jack shushed the little voice in his head that whispered, _I might just take you up on that offer._ "Thanks Tooth, but I'll just be going. Winter to bring and all. It was nice talking to you."

"Y-yeah. See you soon." Tooth pushed at one of her feathers shyly like it was a stray piece of hair and Baby Tooth realized she'd interrupted something much more than just casual Guardian interaction.

The little tooth fairy hurriedly tried to nudge the two back together, but she was too late, the damage had been done.

"So, um... bye." Jack shuffled and took his staff from the edge of a floating tower where he had hung it.

"Bye," Tooth whispered, looking after him mournfully as he jumped over the edge and away from her palace. _"Come back soon Jack. It feels less lonely when you're here."_

The Wind carried her whispered words to him in fragments. _"Come- soon- lonely-"_ Tooth's voice was blown into his ears. Jack glanced back over his shoulder at the still-standing fairy and waved with a smile promising his return. "Later, Tooth!"

She smiled back and waved, finally buzzing her wings and leaving the ground. Her feet hurt from standing that long. "Goodbye!" she called with a dazzling smile, returning to work. As she headed back to her command center, she did a backflip and cheered. "He _hugged_ me, _he_ hugged _me!"_

On his way to Burgess, Jack let out a large whoop and did a flip in midair. "I HAVE A CHAAAAAAANCE!" he yelled to the heavens.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**So I'm starting to ship this more and more... Rainbow Snowcone _is_ awesome! Now I know how cool this cannon ship is! It feels great to be back with shippers again...  
Sorry for the lack of updates, but my ideas have run dry. Any suggestions?  
Also, I have a lovey-dovey arc between Jack and an OC of mine (because it was colonial times, there's no way he could have stayed unmarried that long).  
And I have a Zombie AU arc, but I need to fine-tune it and make sure it makes sense out of context.  
Winter Prince is coming, but it's slow. I'm fitting all three days of the ball into one chapter and some heavy shi+ goes down, plus jack4ss Guardians.  
I just rewatched the movie and fell in love with it all over again, and now I'm revising my a-hole Guardians because as much fun as it is to write it's also very OOC and it no longer sits right with me.  
_PLEASE LEAVE SUGGESTIONS!_  
Oh, and I want to try writing JackRabbit/BunnyFrost/JackxBunny for the first time _ever._ Let the horror show commence...  
This is Cat Lunanoff, over and out! *mock salute*  
**


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